Scooby-Doo and the Mesmerizing Mechanical Melody (Collab)
by Wanli8970
Summary: A creepy animatronic, a hypnotising music box and multiple bank robberies. It can only mean another mystery for the gang to solve but how will things go this time around in the shadow of the horrific events at the camp? Can they find the culprit before anything terrible happens, or will the Puppet Master finally get what she wants?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hoopa's famous words, "Were you surprised?"**

 **For all of those who read my profile every now and then, you would have noticed that I mentioned that I was working on a collab that's supposed to be out on August 27th. Yeah, I pulled a Scott Cawthon on you. This is the actual collab, and you guessed it, it's another Scooby-Doo/Pokémon crossover. I was really hesitant to actually make a series to my crossover stories, but a good friend reminded me how much of you love seeing these two fandoms join together, so ta-da! This is only the beginning, my friends!**

 **Speaking of friends, that same friend is actually the one that's collab-ing with me. Say hello to fellow Pokémon writer and the first person to ever review on my first Scooby-Doo/Pokémon crossover, Joltie! A lot of you probably don't know about them because their long hiatus due to reasons (which I'm not allowed to say in public.) But this author is known for their work on _Aura of Life_ , _The Mark of Arceus,_ and _Weapon_. Joltie is an amazing person with a bright personality who is helping me with this series and you should definitely check out their work! To start things off, this Chapter was written by Joltie, so give a round to them!**

 **Also, I should say this before I let all of you guys read the first chapter.**

 **W** **ARNING!**

 _ **Some of these texts are written in Britain English due to Joltie being a British Citizens. If someone were to point out that some words are spelled wrong, like "Colour" or "Favourite", then Deadpool will find you and kill in the most Anime way possible.**_

 **...**

 **Before you all say anything, those were Joltie's words, not mine. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The Lumiose Music Hall was an extremely prestigious place, tall and made from red clay bricks it stood out like a sore thumb against the metallic structures surrounding it. Statues of male Pyroar, carved out of limestone, stood proudly at the entrance, almost guarding it from some sort of intruder, not that they could anyway. Two fountains waited outside, made out of what seemed to be gold, making two figures of the fairy type Pokémon Florges, holding jars of which the water passed out of.

The hall's interior was just as superb. Vibrant silk and velvet covered the place, powerful colours such as reds, purples, golds and silvers were everywhere one could look and the hallways were decorated with statues, paintings and pictures of past performances. However, the charm of the entire building was the main stage. It was gigantic and circular, the floor made of a polished black material with multiple lights shining down on it from the rafters. Velvet crimson curtains could be drawn from backstage to reveal or cover the stage from the auditorium. All seats, whether at the front, middle or even in the balcony seats, were covered in rich leather, worthy for a place of its grandeur. The stage had multiple levels, and at the highest sat a grand organ, the kind that could easily be found in a cathedral, not even a church, yes that big.

Even though it was such a rich place, only one person had been employed to cover the night time security shift. He was a cheery chap of twenty years, viridian orbs searching from left to right as his hand pushed up his dark blue baseball cap with the word 'SECURITY' written on it, revealing his short, ruffled brown hair. A golden badge was pinned to his light blue shirt, free hand holding a flashlight. Smart black shoes made a sound with every step, his legs covered in dark blue trousers.  
He continued merrily on his way through the halls, flashlight brightening up the dark surroundings so he could see clearly enough. His job was to make sure there were no intruders and no one had been left behind after the last performance which had finished an hour prior to this very moment. For many people, walking through a dark, large and empty building at night with only yourself to be daunting, even scary due to all of the horror games being made at the moment about this kind of thing. There was even one biased on being a security guard at a restaurant at night. However, the guard, oddly enough named Jeremy, didn't care. He didn't play video games like that anyway.

As he walked down the east corridor that lead into the stalls of the seating area, a loud noise from inside the theatre caused him to jump, gaining his attention immediately. The crashing sound seemed as if one of the apparatus, the equipment needed for the productions put on in the hall, had fallen and broken, magically. Of course, it was his job to go and investigate stuff like these and report it to maintenance as soon as possible through his high tech walkie-talkie. Jeremy rushed towards the nearest entrance to the theatre and burst in through the doors, flashlight zooming its powerful beam as he tried to find the creator of the sound.

Surely enough, he had found it pretty quickly. One of the lights had, somehow, fallen and now lay as a broken waste of glass, metal and electronics on the floor of the stage. Firstly, a part of him wondered how on earth this would happen. All lights were securely bolted and none of them had fallen since the hall got a bit of an electronic upgrade. Secondly, something seemed amiss; Jeremy swore he could feel another presence in the room with him, and not a nice one at that. The hairs on his arms stood to attention, goose bumps of the nasty kind covered his skin. Thirdly, why on earth did some of the pieces have long scratch marks on them?! It looked like something had clawed at the light, maybe to get it to fall. Oh great.

Another noise came from the rafters, prompting Jeremy to shine his torch up there. A slight swinging on a piece of equipment told him that something had been up there and recently, probably had made that noise when it moved. The management were going to have his guts for garters; he'd managed to allow a Pokémon to get in. With a loud sigh, he reached for his pocket in his trousers, where his walkie-talkie was. Time to report the fallen light and possible wild creature making the place its home.

"Umm hey, there appears to be a fallen light fixture in the theatre, broken into pieces but has claw marks on the metal, suggests a possible wild, over." He said into the device, holding it still and steady whilst waiting for a response. The silence in the building wasn't helping the sudden fear to the fact he wasn't alone. Jeremy had never been a social kid either which didn't help matters much; he only really took this job as he was scared to death of talking face to face with others. Yes, there is a phobia for that and it does exist.

"A fallen light?" The static reply back sounded shocked. "Not even a Garchomp should be able to get through that metal; we paid for extremely tough structuring. A mark, yes but taking down the entire thing? Nah, that wouldn't happen. Have you found the screws?" Even before the question was asked, Jeremy was using his light to stare at the wreckage to find any sign of some kind of screws. None, none were left behind what so ever.

"Nope, that's a negative." He replied, still standing on the stage with a slight fear rising up inside of him.

"Dude, there may be someone in there with you! Get out… call… before… too late…" With that, the communication between the two sides was cut like a piece of paper, very easily. If Jeremy wasn't afraid earlier then he was now, a part of him wished he could have worn his brown trousers…

Another noise from backstage caught his attention, causing the twenty year old to realise that he had to check there until the maintenance crew arrived to sort out this problem. With weak, trembling legs, he took a step, then another, and continued the pattern until he was hidden from the seat's view, walking along though wires, ropes and equipment off all kinds. Jeremy stupidly walked without looking in front of him, choosing to prefer to look to the sides instead as if something or someone could be hiding within their darkness. Because of this, he bumped into something in front of him and fell onto his bottom.

Groaning whilst he rubbed his head, Jeremy looked up only to scream in fright. Something was here and it was right in front of him! He closed his eyes, waiting for an attack… but it never came. Slowly, he opened his eyes, only to be greeted with what looked like a turned off robot, animatronic kind of thing, limp and lifeless standing probably having been left there to scare him by the maintenance team. Then the call and the light… Jeremy knew who was going to be yelling at tomorrow morning, even if it killed him.

"Silly me… stupid prank, why would they do something like that…?" He laughed the robot's scare off, only to sigh at the mental age of his colleges. Why did they all have to have the mentality of children, pray may tell? A child could act more mature than these men as many did in the society of the world or at least in this half. He got up and dusted himself off before turning and leaving backstage well… that's what he would have done if a noise didn't alert his attention once again behind him. The robot was still off, although this time it was closer to him than he imagined it would be. Jeremy rubbed his eyes and groaned, great now he was being paranoid, thanks maintenance.

He continued walking, hearing soft footsteps behind him, causing the guard to turn around yet again. The robot was in the same position as before but… it had moved, it had defiantly moved. No longer was it placed near the entrance to the corridors that led to the dressing rooms, it had moved halfway between where he was standing and that very same door. He'd had enough, it wasn't funny, the prank was getting old already. Jeremy rushed out to the main stage, surprised and happy the thing wasn't behind him anymore. He bent down over the light once more, still confused as to how it could have fallen. The missing screws held the answer, where were they and who did this? Was there someone else in the building or not. Were his colleagues still being idiots and playing a prank on him for their amusement? He didn't know. But what he did know was that something was making a whirring noise behind him. Jeremy was about to yell out in anger when his words died on his lips. The animatronic thing was behind him, and alive…

The robot stood over 9 feet tall and was extremely limp with long skinny arms and legs. Her head was round, face blue with red circular cheeks giving it a cartoonish blush. Large purple eyes were easily visible for all to see, with silted, catlike eyes. Sharp white teeth showed from her long mouth that had cherry red lipstick at the midpoint of the lips. Her blue hands were ginormous and had long, sharp fingers with pointed nails. Long, tangled ebony curls trailed down her back. At first, she was wearing a loose white blouse with puffed sleeves that was buttoned up with midnight sky coloured buttons. A corset covered most of the top, matching the colour of her hair as a purple bowtie cut into her outfit's dreary and dull colouring. A long, black maxi skirt covered her legs and feet. Suddenly, her appearance changed in a flash, sleeves ripped off and skirt teared to reveal six horrifying mechanical spider legs and metallic, animatronic endoskeleton arms.

 _"My, My, My… WhAt Do We HaVe HeRe?"_ The thing spoke with a glitch voice, causing a constant change in volume with every letter she spoke. Cold and hard, the voice scared him and for a moment, Jeremy wished that he was dreaming and this was all in his head. But reality holds more truth than fiction and there was really a creepy, horrific body changing creature in front of him. Without even thinking, Jeremy screamed and ran, trying to get away from the thing.

He jumped off of the stage and ran out into the corridors, making his way towards the exit with the robot in hot pursuit, yelling things that made him shiver. It was obvious she, or should that be it, had a target and that target was him. What she wanted to do was unknown. Jeremy hoped that, if he couldn't escape, she would make his death as painless as possible and leave his body recognisable so the cops could identify who he was.

By now, Jeremy had made two mistakes, mistakes that would cost him dearly. First was that he was lost in thought, his body doing all of the moving for him as he made his escape, which means he wasn't thinking clearly enough about turnings and the exit plan. This lead to the second mistake. He took the wrong turn when the corridor met another. Turning to the left would have granted the security guard the escape that he was hoping and praying for from this evil demon behind him however, he didn't turn left. He turned right.

What was down the right path, one may be wondering and inclined to ask? A dead end, naturally. For some reason, the corridor just ended, a picture of a past production plastered on the end. When Jeremy saw it, he knew he was in trouble and, with a quick look over his shoulder, he realised that there was no time to turn back. The robot was right behind him, only ten long paces away from his position, there was no way out of this or no way to get past that bucket of bolts.

He reached the end of the corridor, turning around to meet his doom. Well, maybe he should have played some of those horror games now because he would have known what to do at this very moment in time. His eyes watched as the robot decided to slow her pace, agonisingly making her way towards him all whilst grinning evilly at the thought of claiming her prize for winning the chase. Now that he was stationary and she was slower, Jeremy noted that she was holding a music box in her hands, one of them winding up the handle on the side of it. The box itself looked plain with a few white musical notes added in paint for a sort of decoration.

Finally, after minutes of shaking and crying, the robot had reached him, her face only mere inches away from his. As always, she was grinning, reveling in the fear of her prey, her sharp teeth making him wince and flinch.

"Please… please don't kill me!" Jeremy cried, tears running down his face like waterfalls. He was bargaining with a robot, a robot that held his future and his life in the palms of her metallic hands and he didn't like it.

 _"AwW, i Am NoT gOiNg To KiLl YoU…"_ The glitch voice spoke once again, filling him with a terror that couldn't even be described. However, he gained a slight relief before fear stuck once again. If she wasn't going to kill him then what on earth was she going to do? _"StAy StIlL mY pUpPeT, iT'lL bE oVeR sOoN."_ What will be over soon? What was she going to do to him? Was it something to do with that music box?

The handle continued to turn as Jeremy cowered where he stood, what was going on? He now thought that there was no way this could be a prank, after all, maintenance weren't exactly the best planners in the world. Could they have really planned a prank like this all the way down to the last detail? Maybe so. He hoped that when the music box was wound up fully than a message would play saying on how he had just been pranked by the other staff members. However, Jeremy wasn't lucky, this was no prank.

The lid of the box opened playing a typical jangly tune, probably a rendition of some kind of song. It was like a lullaby, soothing and calming, almost sending him to sleep. Jeremy couldn't help but yawn, his body relaxed and calm as warmth spread from his head to his toes, through his arms and legs and around his whole body, lulling him into a false state of peacefulness. His consciousness was shutting itself down, his vision blackening as the world around him vanished into thin air and the only thing he could think about was the song being played to him. With one last glad sigh, Jeremy lost what grasp he had on himself left and fell into an infinite abyss of darkness.

She smiled, it had worked. The once fearful security guard was standing in front of her, like a mindless zombie with hunched shoulders. His bright viridian eyes had dulled and glazed, almost as if he wasn't in control any more… which he wasn't. Her song had hypnotised him, made him a slave for her to use. She was very pleased with the overall outcome; at least now she knew her plan would work. Now all that was left was to test her work. She walked up to the guard, having changed back into the form he first saw her as, managing to get so close that normal people would flinch.

" _LiStEn To Me ClOsElY…"_ She looked at his name badge and smiled. _"JeReMy… I wAnT yOu To BaRk LiKe A lItTlE dOg, An ObEdIeNt LiTtLe DoG!"_ At first, the guard did nothing, seconds passed until she heard a barking noise coming from the human in front of her. Excellent. She began cackling madly, now all she had to do was hypnotise multiple people into doing what she wanted and everything she wanted would be hers. Her cackling echoed around the corridor, into the theatre and possibly, outside the building. She didn't care who heard her, glitch voice box and all.

Finally, the Puppet Master would get what she wanted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I think I can speak for both Joltie and myself that we're both very happy by how much response we got on the first chapter. Just to clear things up about this collab, Joltie does not own the idea for this story. I've told them about the next crossover idea I'd had and they volunteer if they wanted to help me out with it, and that's it. Just a friend helping another friend. I also should probably mention we're taking turns on the chapters, I got the evens and Joltie's got the odds, okay? Also, I'm updating this story on Saturday because School is coming up and I still need to work on my chapters, so I apologize for the sudden long wait without a reason.**

 **Okay! Now that's all done, time for the Shoutouts!**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: Wow... You, honestly, reacted better than what me and Joltie thought you would. Yeah, Joltie's a really good actor, huh? Both me and Joltie are very happy that you're enjoying this so far and be prepare for what we have in store! Thanks, about the robot, imagine all the references we have plan! :) Really? That's the name? Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Guest: Yep, get in line for the roller coaster again! Yeah, it is similar to those Malamar episodes now that I think about it. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **KHLegacy: Yep! You can thank Joltie for that!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: As I said above, you can thank Joltie for getting thinks kicking! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Blaze: Yeah, these stories are slowly getting popular. And I just can't resist writing the XY Gang with Shaggy and Scooby together. Also, I still can't believe no one has even thought of writing the Pokémon Anime with Scooby-Doo.**

 **Lightwing: Don't worry, I did! I hope you like the second chapter!**

 **Darkwing: Well, the idea was mine, Joltie is just helping me with it. Don't worry, you'll see my writing again in this chapter!**

 **Hex: Actually, this story was my idea and Joltie is helping me by writing their side of chapters. We're both taking turns on this and now the chapter below is mine. I hope this clears things up.**

 **Mr. R: That's correct!**

 **Satoshi-Greninja: Sadly, it's the same in the original series. I'm sorry there's not going to be a Ash-Greninja in this story.**

 **Omarnosian10: I'm sure Joltie's happy when reading this comment! The only comment I can make about that is that we forgot about that guy from the original series, and I have no idea why. That guy is big nightmare fuel. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Flights from the regions to the continents were supposed to be peaceful for Taku Ketchum. As the only person who's allowed to visit both societies without any trouble, he can get the chance to see the beauty in both words. Where he stares at Wingulls and Pelippers fly by from the window before they gradually disappear and in their places are the normal seagulls that are flying with a blank stare. Even if the people in the continents can't see the beauty in all of the creatures that exist in both worlds, he can and he's forever grateful for that.

If only he could enjoy the view right now if it weren't for a certain mother busy howling in his ear during their talk on the phone.

"So, who exactly _are_ these people you said that you're about to bring over the border?" Came the skeptical question of Delia Ketchum from the phone, not that Taku can blame her. Ever since he picked up Ash and his friends from _Stan's Deadpan Camp_ (He still wonders why would Stan name his camp that), Taku has noticed that his nephew looked like he hasn't gotten any type of sleep for weeks, not to mention he's always staring ahead with a blank look on his face. His friends didn't give him the full detail on what happened, only that he got kidnapped because of Stan's recklessness and he hasn't been the same ever since.

"Now, Delia, you remember all the times Ash told you about Mystery Incorporated?" Taku said in hopes it could keep the protective mother from exploding. She didn't exactly reacted well when she caught sight of her son's mental state after coming home. "I'm just going to be bringing them over as a surprise for Ash and his friends. They haven't stopped talking about them ever since they came back since camp and-"

"The camp that you sent them too and my poor son came back looking like a _zombie!_ " Taku had to pull the phone away from his ear by a few inches when Delia's loud shrill voice nearly cause his eardrums to explode. "I swear, Taku Dane Ketchum, if my son comes back home looking worse than he already is, I'm going to-!" Cringing, Taku looks outside the window to see that the plane has already landed.

"Oh, look at that, Delia! I'm already on the ground so I can't talk to right now, but I will later! Goodbye!" He said quickly before he presses the off button to stop Delia from making full sense of his jumble up words.

He sighs in relief while putting his phone away. Sometimes he's glad that his brother was the one who got married instead him, because he's not sure how he can handle _that_ everyday.

* * *

Taku exits the tunnel to be meet with an empty airport gate that leads from the continents to the regions. Ever since the banning of the normal flight visits between the continents to the regions, no one has been allowed to even go near the gates. Because of this, the entire area look completely like a ghost town. All the seats are covered in cobwebs and the some of the windows were broken, causing a few pigeons to fly in and out from their nests inside the gates.

He could almost feel himself shudder. Exactly how long are the governments are going to be at each other's throats?

Taku walks down the poorly lit hall, wondering how those teenagers are doing when getting pass border control. It probably was pretty horrible for them, being force to throw away the things they cared about just to be able to get this far in the airport. He can already imagine Shaggy and Scooby crying over the fact that they had to throw away their food just to get here.

"LIKE, HEY MR. KETCHUM!"

"IT'S US! RAGGY AND ROOBY-ROO! WE'RE RALKING AT ROU THROUGH THE GLASS!"

"LIKE, YEAH! THIS IS, LIKE, THE SOUNDS OF OUR VOICE YELLING AT YOU RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT!"

Turning the corner, Taku could feel his eyes widening once he sees the bizarre sight right in front of him. Standing inside the booth that's the final obstacle to the gates are Shaggy and Scooby, who both are pounding on the glass since they could barely contain their excitement. The rest of Mystery Inc. are there always, although they appear less happy than their two friends, especially Daphne since she's busy trying to pat down stray spots from her hair. Fred and Velma, meanwhile, were busy staring at this strange who is also in the booth with them. He appeared to be extremely paranoid since he's trembling like crazy with his hair and clothes are messy and all over the place.

Smiling to himself once he sees the two teenagers that had made great friends with his nephew, Taku nods to the two emotionless security guards that are both guarding the door of the booth. "You can let them through." Shooting each other skeptical looks, one of the guards unlocks and opens the door. The first people to come out of the booth are Shaggy and Scooby, both looking even more excited than before. Then the rest of Mystery Inc. followed, all looking very nervous as the man who was in there with them begins to follow them out. But before he could even step a foot outside, the two security guards stop him and begin to push him back into the booth.

"Nein, ich muss sehen-!" The man started to say in a foreign language before one of the security guards slam the door on him, cutting him off from saying his sentence.

"Boy, was he creepy..." Fred shuddered, although Shaggy and Scooby paid him no mind as they were busy staring at Taku.

"Like, did you hear-?" Shaggy begins to ask a question before he was cut off.

"Yes, I did." Taku answered before addressing the whole group. "It's wonderful to see you all again! I'm sure Ash and his friends will be very surprise that I manage to get all of you to come over to the regions for a visit."

"Hey, we're happy to come, Mr. Ketchum." Fred says with a wave of his hand. "Besides, this get a chance to see what kinds of Pokémon are living in the regions."

"I bet my professor will find it very interesting that I'd manage to get a few notes on Pokémon behavior." Velma said with a adjustment on her glasses.

Only Daphne didn't seem to be in a cheerful mood since she's so busy trying to keep her hair in place. "This trip better be worth it," She grumbles, pulling down the last stray. "I don't know how much more my hair can take in these conditions. I can't even doing anything about since all of those _rude_ border control guards made me throw all of my haircare products out into the garbage!" The two security guards that are present both look away from the fuming red-hair.

"Don't worry, Daph," Shaggy says with a wave of his hands. "Where we're going, you won't have to worry about anything ever again because we'll be so busy having the best time of our-" He and Scooby were about to march towards the plane when they were stopped by one of the security guards.

"Now, hold it!" He says, blocking the two cowards' path. "If you're gonna go to the regions with that dog, then I'm afraid you, your friends, and your dog are going to need vaccine shots just so no Pokémon gets infected by you."

"Needles?!" Daphne cried out in shock, first no hair products and now this?

"But went through all the other stuff and passed!" Velma protested, finding the whole thing unfair.

The other security guard shrug. "Hey, sorry. But rules are rules."

Seeing the downcast look on his friends' faces, Shaggy tries to remain positive as they are all being lead to a room where they're about to get their shots. "Like, let's not focus on the horrible pains that are about to befall on our arms. Instead, let's look at the facts that we're about to be reunited with the kids and have a awesome time! Besides, like, how bad could it be?"

* * *

Unfortunately, Shaggy's positive attitude jinxed them and the whole thing became worse than "Bad." As it turns out, they weren't getting just one shot on their arms. They were actually getting _thousands_ of needles being shot everywhere on their bodies. And by everywhere, I mean _everywhere_. This, of course, traumatized the teenagers and dog more than they already have been before. Poor Scooby even had to wear one those traditional dog cones since he put up a struggle just to avoid getting a shot in _that area_. "I'll never lick that area again..." He mumbled in his post-traumatized state.

Finally after what seemed like hours of endless awkwardness on the plane, they have finally landed in Lumiose City where there appears to be festival going on. As it turns out, there was actually a celebration called the _Grand Arts Festival_ were the citizens get a chance to celebrate the fine work of the Creative Arts. They had many activities for people to do to try and practice the Creative Arts. After hearing Ash and his friends were going to that celebration, Taku thought it would be good for Ash's mental health that he seems some familiar faces and thought it would be fun if he kept it a surprise.

However, his "surprises" aren't appearing to be doing well as they exit the gates and are now walking out of the airport into the streets of Lumiose City. A few people who were walking by often take a quick weirded-out glance at the teenagers when seeing the Great Dane and their horrified looks with their hair and clothes disheveled. Taku gave the passers a quick awkward smile before they move away.

"Again, I am _really_ sorry you all have to go through that." Taku apologized once again for the nearly hundredth time. "I had no idea they were going to that since Ash never told me about that happening when he came back home-"

"L-Like, n-not a problem, K-Ketchum dude..." Shaggy cuts him off, although he and everyone else are still pretty shaken up from their experience. "J-Just as long we see our little buddies again, w-we'll be fine." He gulps. "Like, there was so many needles... I'll never look a turkey baster the same ever again!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Scooby's nose suddenly begins to twitch uncontrollably as a familiar smell begins to fill his nostrils. This quickly snaps him out of his traumatized state as he yells with a "Ro roy!" of excitement before braking off into a run down the street that leads to the Lumiose Tower, while also nearly knocking over a few people and Pokémon that got in his path.

"What's the matter with him?" Taku asked, completely startled by Scooby's sudden behavior.

"Like, I may have an idea..." Shaggy says while coming out of his traumatized state along with the others. Soon he broke into a run after his dog shouting, "Like, Scoob! We promised we hug-attack the kids together, man!" Bewildered, they all follow after them, wondering what's gotten into Scooby.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the outskirts of Lumiose Tower are Ash Ketchum, his faithful partner, Pikachu, and his best friends, Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont are seated on a bench that shows a great view of Lumiose Tower. They had received a call from Ash's mother that his uncle, Taku Ketchum, is going to be spending with Ash since they didn't get a chance due to complications (ghoul-related ones) and were told to wait for him at the Lumiose Tower. Now, they've been waiting for the millionaire for nearly an hour and they're completely bored out of their minds.

Finally getting tired of kicking her feet in the air, Bonnie lets out an exhausted before she leans her back against the stone bench with her pigtails covering her face. "We've been waiting for like an hour, when is Ash's uncle going to get here?" Dedenne pops out of her pouch to share its exhausted mood.

"Now, Bonnie, I'm sure Mr. Ketchum has his reasons for being so late." Clemont calmly reminds her before noticing his sister often blowing on a piece of her pigtail every time it got on her face. "Also, don't you think it's time for you to get a haircut? Your hair is getting a little too long-"

"No way, big brother!" Bonnie shouts her disagreement as she suddenly sits back up with a pout on her face. "I've spent months trying to get it this long and I won't let my hard work go to waste!"

As the two siblings continue their small debate, Serena took this as a chance to look at her crush. Once she did, her face instantly turns into a frown after seeing him eating his tenth garlic in a row with Pikachu staring at him with a worried expression.

Ever since that incident with the Specter at _Stan's Deadpan Camp_ , Ash hasn't been the same since. He always got nightmares of him actually killing his friends and the Specter winning, Serena couldn't imagine how many times she, Bonnie, and Clemont had been woken up every time Ash screamed during his nightmares. Whenever they try to get him to talk about it, he would just burst into tears and keep muttering "I'm sorry" over and over again. It told the children that day that talking about will only make Ash's mental state even worse. It didn't help that Clemont accidently mentioned that garlic can prevent sleep for a while.

Because of that, Ash began to eat garlics nonstop to prevent nightmares from plaguing his mind again. However, his lack of sleep only seem to make his physical body look just as worse as his mental health. Now he has these horrible dark circles underneath his eyes, making him look like an undead person with his hair being messier than before, even when the Specter possessed him his hair wasn't as messy as this.

"Uh, Ash?" Serena eventually speaks up after Ash had finished his tenth garlic and is about to begin another one. "Don't you think you should slow down? I know you don't like sleeping nowadays, but I'm really starting to think that you probably start getting some back." However, her words only seem to makes things worse as Ash lets out a small shudder before he begins to consume his eleventh garlic.

Turning to the siblings for some help, Serena sees them bring their hands up and ran them back and forth across their necks, signaling for her to stop on the path she's already on. Already just mention the word "sleep" seems to make things worse. Suddenly an idea springs into her mind, which causes her to smile once she knows this can help him since it has nothing to do with the incident from a few months back. "You know, Ash, I heard that music usually helps people calm down whenever they feel stressed out."

Her plan seem to have work because Ash has now cease his devouring on the garlic and is now looking at her with curious eyes. "Really?"

Serena could find herself mentally sighing in relief once Ash became responsive again. "Yeah!" She says cheerfully. "You'd be surprise that music is one of the therapy's top method to use on a patient. Give it a try, it just might work!"

Ash seem to be talking what she said in consideration, which is a good sign. Suddenly he begins to hum a peaceful melody. Soon his faces breaks into a big smile that she hasn't seen in quite a while. "Hey, you're right! It does work!" Ash then begins to hum again, finally appearing to be at peace with himself for once.

This makes his friends do a big sigh of relief. Finally they've found something that can help Ash without keeping him from sleeping.

However, sounds of yelping and crashing from behind immediately caught their attention. Before they could react, they heard a shout of "RUG-ATTACK" before something large suddenly crashes right into them from behind. This sends them flying from their seats on the benches with them shouting a series of "HEY!" before they land on the ground with the large thing on their backs, pinning them there.

"Alright, what's the big idea-?!" Ash finds himself cut off when a familiar slobbery tongue runs across his face before it begins to do the same with his friends. "Okay, I don't know if it's just the garlic finally coming from my stomach to my head, or is really Scooby that's on top of us right now?"

Bonnie shudders as the tongue finally stops licking her and is now licking her shuddering brother. "I'll only believe that if Shaggy comes..." She mumbled with a grossed expression.

Not long after she said that, they can faintly hear the shout of, "Like, HUG-ATTACK!" from behind them before they suddenly gasp out when more weight suddenly lands on them from their backs. Now they no longer had any doubt once they heard the familiar laughs of the two cowards they all love so much.

"Shaggy! Scooby!" The kids shout as the manage to sit up once the duo had let them and they all found themselves in a big group hug. Meanwhile, Taku and the rest of Mystery Inc. had finally caught up with Shaggy and Scooby and are now smiling at the scene before them. No wonder Scooby was so excited, he knew exactly where to go to surprise the kids.

Seeing his Uncle out of the corner, Ash quickly acknowledges him. "Uncle Taku!" Hearing their friend shout draws the Kalos citizens' attentions as they look over to see the smiling face of the millionaire.

"Mr. Ketchum! You brought them all here?" Serena asked after she and everyone else finally let go of each other, but they still remain on the ground where Bonnie and Ash were busy petting Scooby on the head, while being mindful of his cone.

"Well, Ash's mother and I thought it would be surprise for all of you if brought Shaggy and Scooby along. After all, you all get along so great with one another during your last encounters.

"He's right, you kids get along with Shag and Scoob like peas in a-" Freddie stops himself short once he sees Ash's current physical condition. "Holy smokes, what happened to you?! You look like you haven't got a-!" Once again Freddie was stopped when he notices the gestures the other kids and Pokémon were giving him. The children are waving their hands back and forth across their necks as Pikachu and Dedenne are trying to imitate what he believes to be a ghostly figure. "Uh, I mean... You look, great?"

Ash could almost feel himself sighing, he knew what Freddie was about to say. Although he's grateful for his friends for stopping the blonde from finishing that sentence, he still feels ashamed of himself for not trying to handle this any better.

"Okay, like, getting out of that awkwardness..." Shaggy said slowly as he begins to stand up. "Like, your Uncle thought it would be a good idea for me and Scoob to the spend the entire day with you and your friends, Ash. And lucky for all of you, me and Scooby have a whole day of fun plan out for you! So, like, whadda ya say? Ready for some fun?"

The children shot each other looks before smiling, it has been a while since they've seen Shaggy and Scooby and they didn't exactly part on good terms with Mystery Inc. since Ash was beginning to have trouble sleeping. "Sure! It has been a while!" Ash answered for all of them.

"Wahoo-!" Shaggy and Scooby both did a loud cheer.

"Just a quick question." Clemont suddenly speaks up, halting the cowards from their excitement.

"Why is Scooby wearing a cone on his head?" Bonnie asked, lightly flickering the white cone.

"And why do all of you look like you've got stung by a Beedrill thousand of times?" Serena said, pointing to all the needle marks on the visible skin of the teenagers.

This makes them giggle nervously, how exactly are they going to tell them without scarring them for life? "Uh, let's just say the security at the airport were really strict there." Daphne decided to put it like that.

However, the kids didn't seem to be taking that for an answer as they raise their eyebrows. Now feeling more awkward than ever, Shaggy says, "Uh, I think Scooby should be the one to tell you, on a more PG rated level." However, said-dog appeared to have return to his post-traumatized state and is now shaking uncontrollable with wide eyes full of fear.

"Uh, Scooby?" Bonnie asked once she and her friends sees the dog's state.

"T-They gave us shots everywhere..." The Great Dane mumbles in terrified tone, his mind having no plans on keeping this information PG rated. He suddenly grabs Bonnie and Ash by the collars since they were closes to him and begins to shake them as stares at them with his wide eyes. "EVERYWHERE KIDS!" Scooby stops shaking before saying "Everywhere..." ominously.

The kids all stare at him with wide eyes while Pikachu's eye is twitching and Dedenne quickly hid in Bonnie's pouch. "There goes the rest of my innocence..." Bonnie mumbled with a small sigh.

"Uh, ignore that." Shaggy said quickly as he helps the children up. "Like, I promise kids! There's going to be no traumatizing for all of you! Just a regular day full of fun, and eating! Like, onwards!" With that, Shaggy grabs the children by the arms and begins to lead them towards the center of Lumiose City, with Scooby following behind once he got over his traumatized state. Forgetting about what happened moments ago, the children can find themselves laughing as the two cowards lead them towards the festival.

Taku could feel a smile forming on his face. "I'm glad you all decided to visit," He tells the remaining members of Mystery Inc. "It's been a while since I've seen Ash smile like that. Maybe Shaggy and Scooby can give Ash the help that he needs."

"Trust us, Mr. Ketchum, the time we see your nephew again, he's probably going to get more scarred than he already is." Velma said with a deadpan expression. Exactly how can Shaggy and Scooby make things worse?


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! Back with another chapter done by the great Joltie themselves! In this chapter, things are really going to start up. Also, to anyone who's going to ask, yes, I did see the latest episode of Pokémon XY &Z. My reaction, I had a hint of a smile on my face. If you want to know why, PM me because I've already said enough of that opinion out in public already. Also, I got an announcement to make, I'm doing a Pokémon One-Shot in the Pokémon Category. I won't tell you much because I don't want it to be a spoiler, but you'll know it's by me when you see my username on the Pokémon Category! Anyway, now that's done, onto the Shoutouts! :D**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: YEP! You're not the only one who's happy about that! Great! That's what I always hope when I write fanfictions, that I keep the characters** _ **in**_ **character. Oh, I really think Joltie should get those awards because they're way more detail than I ever could be. Yeah... I'm pretty sure I scarred a few people who decided to read this... Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Omarnosian10: Thanks! Um, I haven't really thought about that. One thing I can say is that I'm calling the** _ **Be Cool**_ **,** _ **Scooby-Doo**_ **one** _ **Be Cool, Pikachu!**_ **The movie verse, I have to get back to you on that.**

 **Satoshi-Greninja: It is. I guess you can say that. I mean, I love writing the Scooby Gang with the XY Gang and no one thought of that idea, so ta-da! I've always been the one to try and think outside the box so this series was born.**

 **Keaven: Okay, here's the thing. Shaggy and Scooby have meet the children's Pokémon, but it was off-screen. I figured it wouldn't be a spoiler to tell you.**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! I think in this chapter you'll start to notice things are going to kick up! ;) Delia will be mention in the future, but that's all I'm going to say.**

 **Guest: Yeah, take it from someone who doesn't like shots myself. Imagine getting them everywhere...*shudders* I think I just mentally scarred myself... Yeah, Velma is known to be the jinx-er of the group, isn't she?**

 **Matt: While I did enjoy that puppet obsession for Daphne in** _ **Be Cool, Scooby-Doo**_ **, I'm sticking to the characteristics in the movie-verse. Also, I don't think Daphne is going to like puppets for what me and Joltie have planned up ahead.**

 **Blaze: Thanks! Yeah, it sure is. Leave it to the monster of the mystery to ruin everything.**

 **Lightwing: Who would blame him? If you had to be possessed for nearly two days, trying to fight for you body back but it's so hard, seeing yourself hurt your love ones, and seeing the face of your possessor after being freed for only a few minutes, I think Ash has an extremely good reason to get nightmares.**

 **Darkwing: Yeah... Their governments really do hate each other.** **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

A few hours had passed and the sun was beginning to set. After plentiful moments of fun, it was time for the group to leave the festival. A spokesperson had announced that the Creative Minds Award Ceremony would be held in a bit at the Lumiose Music Hall and that the festival would be shutting down for that. Earlier, everyone had planned a meeting place before the ceremony, out in the hallways of the building, with no time to change or freshen up in between. However, thankfully enough, none of them were giving or receiving awards so there was no need to worry about that.

Three of the members of Mystery Inc. along with a certain mocha-skinned millionaire had arrived a few minutes early, just in case for multiple different reasons. Fred was checking his wristwatch when a familiar voice floated over the heads of the other people here for the ceremony.

"Fred! We're, like, here!" Before anyone could say anything else, their eyes laid themselves on the now exhausted children that were behind the two bright-eyed adults, well an adult and a dog. Clemont was wearily trudging afterwards, his glasses having slipped down his nose, eyelids heavy and struggling to stay awake. Serena was only slightly better, yawning practically every other second, her hand constantly in front of her mouth. The most awake out of the children seemed to be Ash, who was clutching an already sleeping Pikachu in his arms, eyes blinking a lot more than normal which obviously showed how he was trying to keep them from closing. Bonnie, on the other hand, seemed completely out of it. She was having a nice piggy back courtesy of Shaggy, mumbling weird things about a giant Buneary and some devil girl with pigtailed plaits and glasses stealing something away, yawning her head off loudly and dramatically. Her pouch was carried by Scooby, Dedenne fast asleep snoring away from its place in the pouch.

"What did you do to them?!" Daphne gasped in shock over the children's state.

"Like, don't blame us! The kids wanted to do it!" Shaggy was quick to defend himself. "It's not like we forced them onto anything, right Scoob?"

"Reah!" Scooby nodded in agreement, because it was the honest truth. Why the others wouldn't believe them he had no idea. Velma was about to speak up sternly, her arms folded and eyebrows furrowed when a tired voice spoke up.

"They're right. We wanted to do all the things we did, especially Bonnie…" Ash mumbled with a yawn at the end, Serena and Clemont showing their place in the matter with slight head nods. Bonnie didn't show her agreement, instead she settled for snuggling deeper into her position on the lanky built adult's back. Velma was about to say something, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed when a hearty laugh next to her stopped whatever was resting on the tip of her tongue.

"Well that must have been fun." Taku smiled gently, taking his nephew's hat off of his head and ruffling the jet black hair of his out of love, of course. He laughed once more with the tired yet annoyed stare, completed with a cute pout, he got in return for that action, with the trainer patting down his spikes with his own gloved hands afterwards. "We'd best be off to our seats then. The awards ceremony is about to start."

* * *

The theatre was bustling with sounds, conversations overlapping into an untune orchestra of its own. All thanks to the elder Ketchum, the group were sitting in the left hand box, one of the most expensive areas to sit and they could see why. Not only did they have an amazing view of the stage, they could also see all of the other seating areas around the music hall, including the allusive Gallery that only the well to do of the regions could afford. Luckily from them, the person paying was more than well to do, he was loaded with money.

Daphne, Fred, Velma and Taku sat in the front four seats with Shaggy, Scooby and the kids sharing the other five. Why five, you ask? Well Bonnie had decided to fall asleep on her brother's lap, wrapping her arms around his waist and mumbling things that sounded really cute, especially when she seemed to be asking an invisible woman to 'keep' her brother, making all of the gestures before collapsing back into sleep once more. Everyone else simply smiled or giggled at the display, especially at how cute the little girl was making herself appear whilst she was dozing away.

The kids weren't really speaking, being tired already, which left the adults in the front to converse quietly amongst themselves, mostly with the mystery gang members thanking Taku for the whole experience which he said was nothing for what they had done for his nephew over the past few months. It was true though, the millionaire felt deeply in gratitude towards Mystery Incorporated due to the two times in which they had helped Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie out with both the hotel he owned up in the mountains and at _Stan's Deadpan Camp_. After all, if they hadn't been there, things would be a whole lot different now and Delia would be much angrier than she already was.

A hush fell over the audience as the curtains arose, revealing a woman who was holding a black and grey microphone in her hands, the lights around the theatre diming into nothing. The woman had long brown hair, a dark oak bark shade, which was curled at the ends and tied together in a fancy ponytail. Light green, leaf coloured, orbs glanced over the audience, as if they weren't even there. Her long pink gown trailed slightly behind her on stage, sleeveless with bunched fabric on the body of the dress, finishing at a v shape from her hips to where her bellybutton should have been.

"Hello everybody and welcome to the Grand Art Awards Ceremony! We are here to celebrate the talents from multiple forms of media in the creative side of life." She eyes seemed to glisten with joy as she spoke, voice loud and projecting making it seem as if she owned the hall with just her words to help her. "My name is Amanda Miller and I will be your host for the evening. We have a line-up of multiple performances throughout the awards, one of which is opening the show! Here's a blast from the past for all of you adults, introducing the Pokéfriends from the popular Fazbear Company!" She left the stage, walking off to the right as a part of the floor rose up from underneath, revealing a band of five robots.

The first was an Ursaring, except it had a black bowler hat and a bowtie, holding its own microphone in its hands. The second was a Diggersby with a purple colouring to it, only thinner than usual and holding a bright red guitar with a similarly coloured bowtie welded into its neck. Next was a Delphox with one of its hands being a silver hook and a black eyepatch over one of its eyes. The fourth and last Pokémon looking of the robots was a Torchic, if the Pokémon had hands and legs; it too was holding a microphone. Out of all of them, the last one was the creepiest, a mine like puppet creature with long fingers and, funnily enough, was the only one with hair.

A yelp turned everyone, except from the kids who were fast asleep by now, in Shaggy and Scooby's direction, both of whom were hiding under their seats. The two were shaking like the tail end of a rattle snake, hands over eyes and teeth chattering.

"What is wrong with you two?" Fred asked; confused as to why they'd react that way to robots that were a long way away from them, most of which looked extremely child friendly.

"They've come to haunt us man!" Shaggy yelled; images of animatronic robots from overseas jump-scaring him flashing through his mind. "They've, like, escaped the pizzeria and changed form to find us!"

"Not fun! Not fun anymore!" Scooby whimpered in agreement. Unlike Shaggy, Scooby had the right mind to not play, but what his friend scream at the jump-scares that the horror games he played threw at him. Taku gave a confused stare over to the Mystery gang members who weren't cowering in fear, all of whom just gave him a shrug back. They had no idea what was going on either.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ketchum?" A member of staff at the hall had just arrived, ignoring the cowering men, or one man and his dog, to speak with the millionaire. "There's a phone call for you and it's extremely urgent."

Taku gave a quick glance over his shoulder at the children, more specifically his nephew, only to smile as he noticed they were all asleep as the robots played a cheesy eighties kiddies tune. "Can you look over them for me?" He asked, getting nods from all of the Mystery Inc. members, Shaggy and Scooby included as they had come out from under their chairs. "Alright, I'll be back shortly." He left the Box, following the staff member until he was out of sight.

The music from the robots continued, with surprisingly only one remaining inactive until now, the robots had a set pattern and build-up of their instruments and voices. No one, note even those in the Stalls up close to the stage noticed the puppet robot, the Puppet Master, smirking before she wound up her music box and began playing its tune. Immediately, for some reason, the other robots shut down, leaving only the music box behind for all to hear. The eyes of those listening became glazed, showing the other worldly mental state of those forced to listen to the melody.

Shaggy raised an eyebrow at the slumped and zombie-like poses that people across the hall seemed to have, except from himself, Scooby and the kids, everyone seemed to have adapted into this possessed persona. He gave Scooby a confused look, which he only received another dog versioned form of the look back.

"Hey, Fred. Like, what's going on?" He poked the Mystery Inc. leader in the arm, who didn't even respond. Something told him that they were the only ones who hadn't changed a bit in response to the music. For a while, the melody continued until the robot suddenly powered down and the light came back on. The once trance people were pulled out by the sudden light and noise as a voice spoke out through the speaker in a monotone voice.

"Due to some major technical difficulties, the Grand Arts Awards is postponed until a future date. Can everyone please make their way out of the building in a calm and orderly fashion, thank you." It was Amanda's voice, but it didn't sound as jovial as before, more dark and serious in a way. Taku re-entered the Box only to find that the lights were on and people were leaving. He frowned and asked the question on his mind.

"What's going on here?"

"I dunno…" Daphne mumbled, sounding slightly groggy for some odd reason. "That puppet robot began playing that music box thingy and I think I fell asleep… what about you guys?"

"The same thing happened to me." Velma nodded, wondering what could have happened during those few minutes of shut eyes.

"Me too." Fred added, turning back to the two awake members in the back. "What about you guys?"

"Like nothing happened. The music played and then suddenly the thing shut down and the lights, like, came on. We were told to, like, make an exit!" Shaggy replied, shrugging his shoulders to which Scooby nodded energetically in agreement.

"Well, in that case, we should be leaving." The millionaire's eyes rested on the four sleeping kids. "Can you help me to get them back into the hotel?"

* * *

It was quite the scene as the group walked back, the males carrying one of the children each. Taku was carrying his own nephew in his arms; left arm supporting the ten year old's back with the right holding his legs right under the knees, Pikachu slumped over his shoulder and his mouth open with cute sounds rolling out of it. Shaggy was doing the same thing to Serena that he'd done with the sleepy Bonnie earlier, giving her a piggyback. Clemont's stomach rested on Fred's shoulder, one strong arm keeping him from slipping off, the rest of his limbs floppy and like that of a ragdoll. As well as handling Bonnie's pouch, Scooby was carrying the girl himself over his back as she hugged him during her sleep.

"They've been asleep since the act started?" Taku inquired, noticing their nods. "I guess the festival really puckered them out."

"Even kids have a limit, Mr. Ketchum." Daphne smiled sweetly. "I think we've found theirs."

"I wonder why there were difficulties." Velma mumbled, frowning as she walked. "Did something happen to one of those… robot thingies?"

"Animatronics!" Shaggy shouted, visibly shaking in fear before rectifying his position for the passenger he was carrying on his back. "Like that's what they're called. Man, I've had the worst nightmares about them! I hate the name Scott Cawthon and, like, anything to do with FNAF."

"FNAF?" Fred raised an eyebrow looking slightly sceptical over the four lettered word that didn't make any sense to a normal, non-horror game playing human.

"Five Night's at Freddy's, man." The hippy like man groaned at the full name. "Set in a kid's pizzeria with animal robots and dead children with the purple guy who may be a phone guy and…" He shivered once again. "The lore is more complicated than anything, even the Legend of Zelda's."

"Oh, that Scott." Taku grinned, remembering the guy he had met when he had come over for a visit to the regions for inspiration for his make or break game. "I know him, told him about the Fazbear Company and took him to one of their restaurants… sorry Shaggy." If looks could kill, the millionaire would be six foot underground in a wooden casket. The sound of a buzzing from his jacket pocket turned all attention to him, probably due to the fact his phone was going off. "Velma, please can you find out what that's about without disturbing Ash?"

The glasses wearing female nodded, putting her hand gently into his jacket pocket, pulling out a sleek, extremely new phone that had only just rolled onto the shelves. She slid the message tab on the menu screen and began reading.

"Due to technical difficulties with the animatronics causing multiple equipment pieces to short circuit, the Grand Art Awards Ceremony will be held back a couple of days until we get everything up and running once again. Sorry for any problems this has caused." She read, everything seeming normal until she noticed the name of the sender. "Mr. Ketchum, how do you know Amanda Miller, the host of the awards?"

"She's actually my business partner." His reply started off short and sweet but looks caused him to continue. "Amanda's a philanthropist however; she likes to support noble causes which is why she was paid to host the ceremony."

"Wow, you know a lot of people, Mr. Ketchum!" Daphne said, however she wasn't really shocked. A business man like Taku was would know a lot contacts.

"Yes well, not all of them are reliable." He said guiltily, eyes resting down on the floor. The others knew who he was talking about, Peggy White and Stan. Both of them betrayed his trust, putting his family and friends in danger due to their lies. No one decided to speak after that, and the rest of the walk was made in pure agonising silence.

The hotel room was not exactly a room; a suite was more along the lines of it. The two gigantic bedrooms were spilt from each other by a living space that was devoid of any kitchen or cooking equipment. Everything was made out of the finest fabrics, the best materials and the nicest decorations. Of course a millionaire could afford this. Both bedrooms had five queen sized beds with fresh sheets and multiple pillows; so many that most of them had to be thrown off just to have enough to sleep on.

After getting the kids into their beds, without even bothering waking them as it wasn't worth the time or the effort to do so, the adults dropped into their own ones. The Mystery gang in one room with Taku joining the children in his own bed with them. It had been mere hours since they had fallen asleep but yet, there was something afoot.

A silhouette had landed on top of the hotel's roof, music box in hand and plan forming in her mind and, at the very least, the knowledge that the events earlier weren't for naught. Everyone in the hall who had heard the box whilst conscious would react immediately to hearing the sound once again. A smirk formed on the Puppet Master's face as she grasped the handle once again. This was going to be great! As she turned the mechanism, the feeling of satisfaction filled her.

 _"YeS yEs! LiStEn AnD fUlFiL yOuR dUtIeS! rIsE mY mInIoNs!"_ She screeched happily, evil cackles following her words as those who listened to the melody for the second time began to rise under her hypnotic spell. In a certain room, floors from where she was sitting, three people heard the melody drift into their slumber and awoke them from the pleasant dreams they were once having, replaced only by the single message the melody gave them. All must listen and obey the Puppet Master, they must obey their master.

And right then and there, from the deep darkness of unconsciousness; Fred, Daphne and Velma opened their now glazed eyes, controlled by the strings of the Puppet Master's melody.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry it took a while for me to update it, judging by the length of this chapter you can obviously see why it took me so long. Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter because this is my second to last day of freedom before I'm going back to School. (MERCUY, WHY?!) Have a good day!**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Omarnosian10: Yeah, nostalgia is a pretty interesting thing. Isn't it?**

 **A person: Thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this next one!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: I'm sure Joltie appreciates it! :) Yeah, good thing Ash was only captured one time. Daphne though, I can't say the same thing... Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Guest: Yeah, I wonder if there's any therapist who his condition... Huh, I never thought of that reference! But did you like the FNAF references though? Because you'll be seeing plenty of them. Enjoy!**

 **Blaze: Yep. Friends forever for Shaggy, Scooby, and the kids!**

 **Mr. R: What about Stan?**

 **Matt: Yep. Taku is Ash's Uncle from my _Scooby-Doo: The Case of the Hotel Ghoul_ story. Why Shaggy and Scooby aren't hypnotized, you'll find out in the next chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The morning came after a few hours. Whatever happened last night, those who remain in their beds were unaware of those events. Instead, they continue to sleep on. Meanwhile, Fred, Velma, and Daphne had somehow manage to return to their pervious spots in their beds without so much of trouble and are now back to their normal selves. It's as if what happened never really happened and now they're snoozing away, believing that their past actions from last night will never effect them ever again.

If only it were true if it weren't for the insanely loud knocking coming from behind the door.

Begrudgingly, Shaggy and Scooby are the first ones on to be woken up from the banging because their beds were the closest to the door that leads out into the hall. Even though their minds are not fully awake, they can practically hear Ash's moaning from his nightmares in the other bedroom. Knowing it isn't best to wake Ash up in a middle of his nightmare from what they learned from the kids, Shaggy and Scooby both got up and exit the bedroom where they walk towards the door with the knocking becoming increasingly louder.

Finally having enough of the annoying banging and worry for Ash's metal health if he were to wake up now, Shaggy opens the door with annoyed look on his face while rubbing his tired eyes. "Like, dude, whatever you're selling, we ain't buying-" He stops himself short once he realizes this isn't some sad person trying to sell their products to them. Instead, he and Scooby are staring into the stern eyes of Officer Jenny with three of her large comrades standing right behind her.

Now fully awake, Shaggy leans down to Scooby's level to whisper in the Great Dane's ear. "Like, I think they're here about that hot sauce we accidently ordered online. Don't worry, I'll handle this." Straighten up, Shaggy addresses the officer with a friendly tone. "Like, good morning officers! Now I know what you're here for, and I just want to say that me and Scooby did _not_ that hot sauce was-"

Officer Jenny suddenly interrupts him before he could finish his sentence. "We're here looking for the Other World's citizens known as Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Fred Jones. Have you seen them?" She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a parchment before unrolling it. Shaggy and Scooby squint their eyes to look at the people on it, once they realize who they are, their jaws drop all the way to the floor in horror.

The three people in the pictures are people that Shaggy and Scooby know so well, Fred, Daphne, and Velma. What they couldn't understand is why they're wanted by the police. They just arrived yesterday, and they were being watched by Taku, so what could they have done?

Before they could full think this through, Shaggy decides to lie to the police so they can get some answers for themselves. "U-Uh, w-what?" Okay, things aren't going so good. "L-Like, I have no idea what you're talking about. We don't even know these people!"

Just after he said that, the door to their bedroom opens to reveal the very exhausted Fred, Daphne, and Velma in their pajamas. "What's going on out here?" Fred asked with a tired yawn while the girls are busy rubbing their tired eyes.

"FREEZE!" Officer Jenny yells as her large comrades pushed pass a caught off-guard Shaggy and Scooby to get to the now fully awake teenagers. "By order of the Lumiose City and the international banks everywhere, you are under arrest for robbery at Lumiose City's international banks along with multiple other suspects."

"WHAT?!" The members of Mystery Inc. all shout in shock as three of its members are now handcuffed. Before anyone of them could say anything, the door to the other bedroom opens to reveal the tired XY Gang and Taku standing in the doorway. Seeing the sleepy look on Ash's face instead of terrified one assured Shaggy and Scooby that Ash didn't wake up in the middle of his nightmare. But now they need to worry about the unhappy Bonnie being aroused from her slumber.

"Okay, what's with all the noise here-?!" Bonnie stops herself short once she and everyone else takes in the scene before them. "Uh, did we missed something?"

"I'm sorry the police had to barge like this unannounced, Mr. Ketchum," Officer Jenny begins as her comrades begin to drag the three complaining and handcuffed members of Mystery Inc. over to the door. "But I am afraid that the three people who you invited over from the Other World were part of a conspiracy with a large group of people that committed a robbery at the international bank in Lumiose City."

"Now hold on a second, missy!" Seeing the hard glare from Officer Jenny made Shaggy falter on his confident exterior. "U-Uh, I mean... With all due respect, Officer, but there's no way like my friends could have done that."

"Yeah!" Ash quickly agrees with Shaggy. Even with all the trust issues he's been having lately and he didn't know the rest of Mystery Inc. well, but if Shaggy and Scooby believes that they weren't behind it, then he'll stick by their side. "They couldn't have done that, they were here with us the whole night!"

Officer Jenny sighs before taking out a tablet show it to everyone who is in the room. "I assure, I know what I saw last night..." Suddenly a video appears on the screen, making everyone huddle together to watch the scene that's being play before them.

Their eyes widen once they see the international bank completely in chaos with a herd of people walking out of the destroyed doors and windows with large bags full of money in their arms. Amongst the criminal mob are three familiar people who made all of their jaws drop to the floor once they see Fred, Velma, and Daphne in the line of criminals with the bags of money in their arms.

"B-But, I don't remember that!" Freddie shouted in his defense.

"This must be some huge misunderstand!" Velma shouts before the officers began to drag them out the door. "We were obviously set up!"

"Shaggy! Scooby! Don't let them take us away!" Daphne screamed just as they enter the hall. Without hesitation, Shaggy and Scooby quickly launch themselves onto the officers' legs and found themselves being drag along the floor from the officer's brute strength.

"Like, wait! You can't take them!" Shaggy begged, keeping his grip on the officer's leg as tight as he could.

"They're our friends!" Scooby shouted before doing dog whimpering noises. Meanwhile, the XY Gang and Taku are now following behind with perplexed faces. What exactly is going on here?

"Like, tell you what? If you let our friends go, we'll give you that lifetime supply of _Five Skull Fire Sauce_ we accidently ordered online. They're great with avocadoes!" Shaggy tried to bargain with the officers, but as you all know, you can't bargain with the police.

By now, the police had already exited the hotel, now heading towards the Police Cars they parked outside. Realizing it's too late to save their friends now, the kids quickly hurry over to the two cowards, who are still being drag across the floor while still trying to bargain with the police. They grab their legs and began to pull them away from the officers, despite Shaggy and Scooby's protests once they lost their grip on the officers. Although it killed the kids to see their friends practically begging like this, they knew it's best to save Fred, Velma, and Daphne later.

They could only pat the two on the shoulders as they watch Fred, Daphne, and Velma are force into the cars before being driven off to the Police Station with horrified expressions on Scooby and Shaggy's faces. However, their attention were immediately turn to something else once they heard loud shouts of complaints and crying from the area around them. Looking around, their eyes widen once they multiple people being separated from their family and love ones by the police.

"What in the world is going on here?" Clemont asked, mostly to himself as he adjusts his glasses so what he's seeing is true. No one could give him a straight answer as they continue to stare at the Police Cars rolling by with all the people inside.

* * *

The Lumiose City's Police Station isn't as tall as most of the buildings in Lumiose City due to the fact its harboring criminals there, but it is long enough to make sure all the prisoners are allow to be put in to due their time in jail. The entire building seem to stretch for almost a mile. Inside the building are the jail cells at both sides of the hall, one for the males and one for the females. Luckily, Fred was put in a cell that's right across the cells that Velma and Daphne are in so at least he knows some familiar faces in this building of chaos.

Things hadn't been easy for the three teenagers after they were arrested by Officer Jenny. After being carted off to the Police Station, they were given old and dirty orange jumpsuits (something that didn't sit so well with Daphne) before they had to get their pictures taken and be sent to their cells. As of now, Fred is sitting on his bed, checking his watch every second before marking the time on the wall with a small pocket-knife the police allowed him to use to pass the time. In the cells on the girl's side, Velma is also sitting on her bed while playing on a windpipe to pass the time.

The only member of Mystery Inc. that got arrested who isn't appearing to be doing well is Daphne. Due to all the low conditions the prisoners got, Daphne's perfectionist personality started to take over. She's currently pacing back and forth in her cell, muttering a few things that're inaudible while pulling on her already disheveled hair. Apparently the atmosphere in the cells aren't so great for Daphne's hair and now she's more ticked off than before.

"AH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY LONGER!" She finally screams, although it look like it didn't even affect her friends. Daphne quickly grabs the bars and stares at Fred with a craze maniac look in her eyes. "HOW LONG HAVE WE'VE BEEN IN HERE?!"

Fred took a look at the marks he made on the wall, which are only three white lines. "Uh, about three hours, Daph..."

Daphne just screams, looking ready to tear her hair apart. "HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO STAY HERE?! WE DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING!"

"Actually, now that I think about, my hands do feel swore. Not to mention I'm seeing these weird marks on fingertips..." Freddie says as he looks down at his hands, who look completely sore and bruised.

"NOT HELPING!"

"But what I'm really worry about is Shaggy and Scooby." Fred continues, despite the fact Daphne is still freaking out in her cell. "I know for sure we didn't do anything conscious, but do they believe us?"

"I'm not sure, Fred." Velma admits as she momentarily stops playing the windpipe. "Things haven't been so great between us with those two since the Camp. Although Shaggy and Scooby don't often hold grudges, they do find it hard to let things go."

"I just hope they actually take the moment to help us." Fred said. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Daphne desperately trying to use a small spoon to dig her way out of the cell.

Before they could discuss more, the three large officers that arrested them suddenly walks up to their cells. "You have visitors here to see you three." One of them said gruffly before they open the cells and begin to drag them down the hall. The only thing that could cross their minds is that they're hoping the visitors are the people they want to see.

* * *

The room that they're being sent to isn't exactly a big room, but it's big enough to move around. There are only two doors that lead into this room, one that they just came out from and the door that probably helps their visitors enter the room. Although they couldn't see who the visitors are because the wires were too thick to see through the screen door, but they can defiantly tell someone is there due to their shadows possibly trying to see them through the wires. At the wall that's in the middle of the two doors is a jail cell.

Upon seeing the jail cell in her sights, Daphne once again lost it. "NO! NO MORE CELLS!" She screamed, while trying to climb over the officer that's escorting her to the cell. Fred and Velma watch with quirk eyebrows as Daphne puts up a struggle before the officer finally manages to get her in the cell before slamming and locking it shut before she could try to escape.

"Now that mess is done," The Officer grumbles as he walks over to the other door, his hand on the knob. "You three all have visitors. Let it be known that you're not allowed to exchange items. If you were to do that or not, then security will check every last inch on yours and the visitors' persons. Are we clear?" Seeing the three teenagers nod their heads rapidly, the Officer nods his head. "Very well, you have at least fifteen minutes." With that, he opens the door...

...Revealing two familiar cowards who came bargaining in once the door was open with five people and two Pokémon not too far behind them.

"Fred!" Shaggy shouted.

"Velma!" Scooby shouted.

"Daphne!" The two shouted in unison before they finally reach the cells and gave the completely dumbfounded teenagers hugs through the bar. The children stood by their sides, smiling at the scene before them. Meanwhile, Taku walks in and nods to the Officer, who nods back and closes the door once the Millionaire entered the room. Taku stood off to the side to view this wonderful scene.

"S-Shaggy? Scooby?" Fred asked in genuine shock while he and the girls are currently being squish by the two cowards.

"You guys actually came to see us?" Velma asked once the two cowards had finally let them go.

"We thought you two would be angry to see us because, you know, we made fun of your voice a few months ago." Daphne said awkwardly once she remembers how cruel they were to Shaggy's voice that it made him use a Voice-Changing-Serum that made even the kids not recognize him.

"Angry?" Shaggy asks with a raise eyebrow. "Dude, I got over that, like, a week after that whole mess!"

"Besides, you're our friends!" Scooby added in.

"So you believe us when we said we don't remember robbing the bank?" Fred asked hopefully.

"Of course, dude!" Suddenly Shaggy's, along with the kids', glazes at turn towards Daphne, making their smiles drop. "Daphne, though, I'm not completely sure..." Not that they could blame him, Daphne look like a complete wreck. She's twitching every now and then and her hair is completely a mess, not her usual appearance.

"Anyway, how are things going in prison?" Clemont asked in hopes to drive the conversation away from the disheveled Daphne.

However, it didn't work since it seems to rile her up more as she quickly grabs the boy's jumpsuit and brings him closer to the bars so he can stare at her crazed eyes. "IT HAS NOT BEEN OKAY!" She screams, making everyone near her jump. "THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR HAIR NEEDS AND THE OFFICERS HERE ARE INSANE!" After a brief struggle, Bonnie finally manages to free her brother from the crazy red-head's grasp.

"Gee, like, calm down, Daphne. I'm sure the officers aren't that bad-" Shaggy stops once he, Scooby, and the kids took a good look at one of the officers in the room before they all scream in horror while doing many attempts to cover their eyes. "ZOINKS! Like, I didn't know police officers were allowed to wear such horrible masks on duty!"

"Look away, kids!" Scooby shouted at the children, who didn't think twice as Ash and Serena use their hats to cover their eyes, Pikachu using its ears to cover its eyes, Clemont taking off his glasses while Bonnie uses her little hands to cover her eyes, and Dedenne diving back into Bonnie's pouch.

The officer, who looks like a large muscular/fat man with balding hair and somehow looks like that disguise with the large glasses, big black eyebrows, big nose, and large mouse, frowns once he sees all the horrified looks he's receiving. "That's just my face." He defended with a small pout before picking up a Hydreigon mask from a nearby drawer and puts it on. "This is a mask. Rwar..."

Seeing that the Pokémon mask has covered the horrible face, the group of friends all sigh in relief. "Oh good, it's gone..." Shaggy breathes out. The Officer with the mask sighs, no one ever appreciates his face.

"Getting back to the topic," Fred says, gaining their attention. "You all know we're innocent, right? We don't remember robbing the banks!"

"Of course we do!" Serena said to confirm this.

"But that still doesn't explain the three of you robbing a bank last night and not remembering it the next day." Clemont said with a thoughtful look while rubbing his chin.

An idea suddenly springs into Shaggy's mind. "Actually, now that I think about it, they were acting, like, pretty loopy after watching those animatronics."

"Don't forget, most of the people we saw that were arrested were from the theater last night." Scooby reminded his best friend.

"So everyone inside the theater began to act strange, then they decide to rob the banks." Velma says thoughtfully. "Maybe you all should go visit the Music Hall, see if there's anything that can connect to why we rob the banks."

"Oh boy, why did we mention that Scoob? We're going to go to a place that's probably going to be haunted by a phantom who loves the Opera!" Shaggy said fearfully once he realizes the trouble he and Scooby brought in.

"Ro roy..." The Great Dane mumbled.

"While you all are going to be searching the Lumiose Music Hall, I think it's best for me to search the crime scene." Everyone turn their heads when Taku began to volunteer in the searching. "If what Fred, Velma, and Daphne are saying is true, then I have a feeling the one who started of all of this wouldn't so far in the crime. I bet you that they're bound to leave something behind."

"Sure, Mr. Ketchum!" Bonne said excitedly.

"Just stay safe!" Ash quickly said to his Uncle just before he could leave the room.

Taku flashes his nephew a quick smile. "You don't have to worry about me, Ash. I may be getting old, but I still got it!" Seeing his nephew snort from that, Taku took this as a chance to exit the room.

"Like, don't worry you guys," Shaggy says as he and Scooby turn to smile at their imprisoned friends. "We'll prove that you're innocent! Just leave to your old friends, Shaggy and Scoob-!" Just when they were about to exit the room, they failed to notice that Taku closed the door behind him. This causes the two cowards to slam right into the door, face-first. "Zoinks!"

"Are you two okay?!" Serena asked worriedly along with everyone else in the room once they see the two hadn't move from their position in a small while.

"W-We're okay..." Scooby mumbled to reassure the girl.

"Y-Yeah, just a little daze but we'll be-" Shaggy begins but he finds himself stopping when he and Scooby try to push themselves off the door only to stop and realize that the wires from the screen door have somehow got caught in between their teeth when they made contact with the door. There was a moment of silence when the two cowards try to take in what's happening, once they did, their eyes widen with full panic before they scream and desperately try to get their teeth unstuck.

"AH! HELP! DANGER! DANGER! Teeth are caught in the screen door!" Shaggy screamed as he and Scooby continue their efforts to free their teeth from the sharp wires.

Realizing this could be the end once his teeth aren't coming out, Scooby quickly addresses to his friends who are still imprisoned. "Red! Relma! Raphne! Quick, dictate ours wills! We're giving it all to the kids!"

Before anybody could respond to that, Clemont suddenly appears by the duo's sides with a screwdriver in his hand. "Alright, say "Aaah" you two." He told them with a small sigh.

"Aaaah..." The two quickly complied, giving the young genius a chance to use the screwdriver as a toothpick to remove the broken wires from their teeth.

Once they were free, the duo quickly gave Clemont a grateful look. "Like, thanks little dude! You saved us!" Shaggy thanked the blonde boy, who slightly smile while adjusting his glasses.

"Uh, it was no problem. But I think you two have bigger Magikarp to fry..." He points behind the two, making the duo confused before they follow the boy's finger. They manage to caught the sight of Fred, Daphne, and Velma's unamused glares from behind the cells.

Realizing what they had said moments before, this makes the two laugh nervously once they realize how awkward the situation is. "U-Uh, yeah..." Shaggy begins in hopes to stop the situation from getting more awkward than it already is. "So, we may be still a little angry about the whole voice thing. but there's, like, still good news! Like, all we have in our wills is our life-time supply of food! So, technically there's nothing much for the kids to use!"

"Why about the time you two won that beach house in Hawaii from that food-eating contest?" Velma pointed out with a deadpan expression on her face and on Fred and Daphne as well.

"Oh..." Shaggy blinked. He forgot about that. "Uh... You know what? Let's go to that theater! It's not going to be standing there all day! Like, on the double, kids!" To avoid anymore awkward moments, the duo quickly began to push the children out of the room despite their small protests. Leaving the three teenagers to stare at the spot where Shaggy and Scooby once stood with jaw-dropped expressions.

They can understand why those two would still be angry, but come on! Don't they get something in their wills?

"Can I get the beach house, Shaggy?" To rub more salt to the wound, they can hear Bonnie from the hallway eagerly asking that question.

Luckily, the older children were quick to reprimand her. "Bonnie!"

* * *

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the Lumiose Music Hall since it was only a couple blocks away from Lumiose City's Police Station. When they walk right in front of the doors, the entire glass is murky so it was hard for Shaggy to see anything inside. He didn't exactly get a good feeling about theaters since this where the monster shows up, and they didn't even know what the Monster is this time.

"Oh, boy..." He mumbled, alerting the children who are standing right near him.

"What is it, Shaggy?" Ash asked.

"Like, is it just me, or does the glass seem more murky than it was last night?" Confuse by his statement, the children decide to look through the glass themselves. True to the hippie's words, the glass is indeed hard to see through the dirty stains on it. Although they were extremely tired from yesterday's fun events, they figured a place like the Lumiose Music Hall would have been clean daily.

"That's weird," Clemont mutters to himself as he took a quick look at the glass. "Usually the janitors would clean the place up after a show, I wonder where they are now?"

"Maybe who's behind all of this dirty this glass up so no one can see what they were doing?" Serena suggested.

"Maybe..." Clemont sighed as they move away from the doors.

"Well, looks like all we have to do is get in." Shaggy announces, "And since it's, like, locked, and I guess we're gonna have to break in. You got the chair, Scoob?"

Before Scooby could answer that, Bonnie opens the door with a small shove to the handle. The door slowly creeks open, revealing the darkness of the room. "Or we can just walk right through since the door is obviously unlocked." Bonnie deadpanned, making the duo laugh nervously with Scooby throwing away the chair he had previously held in his arms.

"Like, don't repeat anything you just saw, kids." Shaggy told them sternly before they make their way into the Music Hall.

Even though a lot of people had exited the building, leaving small layers of mess on the ground, it's pretty clear that non of the janitors decided to clean up all the unfished food and dirty napkins on the ground. It didn't exactly made Shaggy and Scooby feel better since the lights inside the building aren't even turned on, showing an endless wave of darkness near the reception area.

"Okay, I know we were sleep deprived last night, but this is ridiculous." Ash said after taking in the mess around them.

Meanwhile, Bonnie is currently trying to lift herself onto the reception desk to see if there's anybody there. "Hello?" She calls out, but jumps back down when she received no answer. "I guess nobody's home..."

Gulping, Shaggy took out his flashlight from his pocket and turns it on before shining it on the path before them. "Well, I guess we gonna have to go farther in. Oh... Like, please tell me there's no phantom here..." With no comment on that, the group of friends made their way down the dark hall with Shaggy's small flashlight as their only light source.

After minutes of walking through agonizing silence with Shaggy moving the flashlight every now and then to make sure nothing pops out of them, Shaggy decided that he couldn't take it any longer. "Like, here mister Phantom of the Music Hall. Come to Uncle Shaggy!"

Even though there was no response, it didn't stop the children from reprimand Shaggy. "Uh, is it really a good idea to get the monster to come find us in the middle of an abandon building with no way of anyone trying to find us?" Ash asked rhetorically as everyone else shot a small glare at Shaggy.

"Sorry. Quite places, tend to mess with my mind." The hippie said quickly before they continue their horror-movie walk through the hallway.

Finally after few more minutes of agonizing silence, Scooby notices something that's possibly worth looking at. "Reah! Look!" All humans and Pokémon both stop their small walk so Shaggy can shine the flashlight at the sign to read the place that caught Scooby's attention. The white sign next to the doorway that probably leads to a small room has the words _Security Office_ written in bold letters.

"Hey, the security room!" Shaggy points out before turning back to the children. "Maybe there's something in the footage that can, like, helps us figured out what happened last night." With that, they walk right into the room with Shaggy being able to turn the light switch on. "Finally, some lights..."

The entire room was oddly familiar to Shaggy, even though he only been in there for a couple of seconds. The office is a small, compacted room. Against the wall in front of two office chairs stands a desk, on top which sits a few electronic monitoring devices, as well as a keyboard in front of a giant computer screen on the wall in front of the desk. Wires stream up to the ceiling from the monitoring devices. The desk has two drawers, along with a speaker. Above them were the ceiling would be is a small lantern, the only light source in this dark room.

On either side of the chairs were the security guards would obviously sit are large windows, which allows them to see outside of the office, as well as two doors that appear to be staying open, the one they had just walked through and one on the other side of them. Right next to the doors are two different colored panels, one on each side, both of which have two buttons mounted on them. They can only guess that one of those buttons are for closing the doors. The floor appears to be black and white tiled, matched by a black and white tile stripe on both walls. The rest of the walls from the checkered stripe up are a grayish color.

Despite the fact everything seems so familiar to him, Shaggy still couldn't pin-point where exactly he's seen this before. Reaching nothing, he just shrugs to himself. Oh well, it'll come to him in another time.

Clemont makes his way over to one the chairs before sitting down and began to type on the keyboard. "Let's see if I can find out what exactly happened last night." He mumbled before a footage pops up on the computer screen. Taking a close look at it, Shaggy and Scooby were able to recognize it as the performance they saw last night.

"Hey, I remember that thing!" Shaggy points to the Puppet Master who stood by the performing animatronics. "Like, everyone inside the theater began to act like those weird zombies after that creepy bolts began to play that music box!"

"Really?" Clemont took this as the chance to fast forward the video before pausing it when it shows everyone already exited the building but only the Puppet Master is the animatronic that's remaining on stage. "Now let's see what happened last night." With that, Clemont took it as a chance to un-paused the video.

They all watch the footage with narrow eyes, waiting for something to happen that might give them a clue. After a few minutes went by, they were starting to get bored, Ash even face-panted on the desk when his mind got too tired. Remembering the night terrors he's been having, Ash quickly brought his head up with wide eyes in hopes to keep himself from falling asleep.

Just before they were about to give up, Serena quickly notices something out of the corner of the screen. "Hey, look at that!" She points at the thing on the screen, catching everyone's attention. They all look at the screen and their eyes widen when they see a figure dressed in a purple hood making their way towards the stage where the Puppet Master is.

"Oh great, another guy with a hood." Ash slumps down on the desk with Serena patting his back in a attempt of comfort. "The world really hates me, doesn't it?"

"Like, can you make out who it is?" Shaggy asked, narrowing his eyes to try and get a good look from who's underneath the hood.

"I can try..." Clemont said unsurely before typing something in the keyboard. The camera then zooms right towards the back of the figure's head just when they reach the Puppet Master. Soon the figure turn around to face the camera, but before Clemont could pause to get a clear look of the figure's face, the screen turned static, causing everyone to jump.

"What happened?!" Bonnie asked as Clemont scramble to fix the screen.

"I don't know!" He cries out in panic. "Someone must be hacking with the security footage!" Clemont type a few more things before his face broke into a smile. "Hey! I think I got it!" He pressed the button and the static went away.

But instead of the screen showing the figure and the Puppet Master, it showed something else. Something that made their jaws drop to the floor in complete horror.

 _"Hello my baby! Hello my honey! Hello my ragtime gal!"_ Sang the large janitor from the security footage, who is using the stage late night for his performance. The only reason why the friends were so horrified is that the janitor doesn't look like he can dance, yet he is and doing the _exact_ same dance from that Frog in the Looney Tunes (The kids know about it, thanks to Shaggy and Scooby.) _"Send me a kiss by a fire! Baby, my heart's on fire-!"_

Quickly with a horrified face, Scooby presses a button and the screen goes instantly black. "Rhere are ro rood rootages row a rays..." Scooby remarks to his friends, who are still looking at the screen with horrified looks. Despite Scooby's mispronunciation, they knew what he was talking about as they remember seeing Ranger Stan in the security footage and him almost using the word that was going to scar the kids for life if it weren't for Shaggy and Scooby.

"Tell me about it..." Bonnie mumbles as they all got out of their horrified looks and are now just weirded out at what they just saw.

"Well, bad news." Clemont suddenly announces after typing a few things on the keyboard. "Guess who ever was in that hood, they hacked into the security footage. There's no way we can find out what happened last night now." This points everyone in a down mood, realizing they're not getting any close to prove Fred, Daphne, and Velma's innocence.

Suddenly, an idea forms in Ash's head. "Wait, that guy was going on the stage last night, right?" Seeing his friends nod gave him the chance to continue. "So let's go check that place out! Maybe he dropped something that could be a clue!"

The rest of the children's eyes widen. "You're right, Ash! And since they obviously found a way to get rid of the workers here, then they're bound to be careless on what they were doing!" Clemont said.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to that stage!" Bonnie cheered. But before the children and their Pokémon could even exit the office, they felt their clothes being pulled to stop them from going anywhere. Turning their heads around, they see Shaggy had grab onto the collars of Ash, Serena, and Clemont while Scooby had to bite on Bonnie's pouch strap to stop her.

"Now hold on a second there, kids! Like, I get the stage is a pretty good place for finding clues, but aren't we forgetting one important thing?" Shaggy didn't even give them a chance to answer as he instantly shouts, "That creepy guy in the hood! Now, I don't want to mention the incident, but do you all remember the last time we dealt with someone with a hood? How are we, like, gonna know when we get onto the stage that dude isn't gonna sneak up on us?"

Now began to think about what their hippie friend just said. Although it brought up bad memories, Ash knew Shaggy meant well and that he did had a point. Judging from the Music Hall's appearance, it's pretty clear that whoever that was in the security footage is still inside this building somewhere and could do who knows what to them. Clemont's eyes trail off to see the stage on the screen, giving clear access for anyone in the security room to watch it from there. A light bulb suddenly went off in Clemont's head.

"Well, maybe we should split up. The four of us will go search the stage while you two watch us from the security office. You can contact us if you see anything that's threatening, then we'll know when to run." Clemont explained, gesturing towards the screen in front of them for effect.

The cowardly duo stares at the screen in small awe before turning back to the kids. "Okay, that's a good plan. But, like, how are we gonna call you kids if we see a monster coming your way? You can't suspect me and Scooby too come running in screaming to let the bad guy know he's been caught." Shaggy said, not liking the idea that kids are gonna have to go by themselves.

"Weren't you working on that wrist communicator a while back, Clemont?" Serena suddenly asks. Clemont took a moment to process her words before his eyes widen in realization.

"You're right! And I just finished them right before the festival started." Reaching into his backpack, Clemont pulls out two wrist communicators from it. "Good thing they've hadn't blown up yet." He remarks as he hands one of them to Shaggy, who reluctantly put it on his wrist.

"So if you guys see anything on the cameras, give us a shout and we'll get out of there." Ash informs the two cowards before he and his friends began to make their way out of the office.

"Like, are sure you kids want to do this?" Shaggy asked just before they could leave his sights. He didn't like the children going off by themselves when there's a lunatic on the loose in the same building they're in. Especially after what happened with the Specter a few months ago, they've been worried about the kids going by themselves ever since.

"Of course, Shaggy!" Ash said in hopes to calm the two done. "Remember, see anything on those cameras, gives a shout and we'll be out of there!" With that, the children disappeared from sight as they made their way towards the theater, leaving the two alone in Security Room. Sighing, the two took a seat in the only chairs that are in the room and turn to scan over the monitors to check if anything's change. A few seconds went by before Shaggy suddenly screams, startling the poor the dog that was next to him out of his chair.

Seconds later, the children came barging back through the office with worried expressions on their face after hearing their hippie friend scream like that so suddenly. "What happened?! Did you saw something on the monitors?" Serena asked, wondering what it was that terrified Shaggy so much, as he is shivering with his knees drawn to his chest with wide, terrified eyes.

"No, dude! I just realized where I recognized this place before! This is like _Five Night's at Freddy's_! Mercy, help us!" Shaggy cried before going into his famous whimpering spree. Hearing that familiar horror game coming from his best friend's lips was enough to frighten Scooby, who has currently latched himself onto the pole of his chair with his teeth chattering like crazy.

Only the kids and their Pokémon didn't seem frighten by this. Instead, their worried faces quickly turn into blank stares once they realized Shaggy screamed for nothing. "You made us run back here for nothing?" Bonnie asked cheeky.

"Nothing?! Like, haven't you kids ever heard of Five Night's at Freddy's?!" Receiving only blank stares as a reply, Shaggy continues. "The creepy animatronics that really want to stuff people in a Fazbear Suit?" Nothing. "Being stuck in a office with no way of moving?" Still nothing. "THE PURPLE GUY AND PHONE GUY CONFUSION?!" The only response he got that time was a blank blink from Pikachu.

"Really?" Shaggy asked in slight awe. "I mean, first you kids didn't even know what the _Wizard of Oz_ was. But, like, this is ridiculous! I mean, I knew you kids were cut off from our world, but I didn't think you were _this_ cut off!"

"Just yell through the communicator if you actually see something." Bonnie just told him before they exit the office and continue their way to the theater, leaving the two cowards to stare at the spot where they once were.

Shaggy then turns back to Scooby. "I mean, it is ridiculous how cut off they are."

* * *

The children arrived at the theater only to be meet with a sight that almost made them jumped. Standing right there in the middle of the stage with the spotlight, the only light source in the room, shining down on her is the Puppet Master. She stood there, tall and rigid since she's been turned off from last night's performance. Her clown-like features was enough to make the kids shudder at the sight of her.

"Now I'm starting to understand why those two are so afraid of animatronics..." Bonnie mumbled, with the older children agreeing with her mentally. However, they didn't have time to dwell on it long as they remember why they're here and began to make their way up on the stage, shooting wary glances at the Puppet Master ever now and then as they search for something suspicious or a clue.

After a while, they realized they're not going to find anything useful since they couldn't find anything on the stage. Not only that, but the Puppet Master is really freaking them out.

"Like, testing, testing!" Shaggy's voice suddenly springs from Clemont's wrist communicator. "Can you kids hear us?"

Chuckling softly to himself, Clemont brings in the communicator close. "Yeah, we can here you, Shaggy! Can you see us on the monitors?"

"Sure can, little dude!" Shaggy's eager voice answers through the tiny speakers. "Forget what I said about this place being like _Five Night's At Freddy's_ , their camera tech is, like, way better!." Still not knowing what Shaggy means by that, Clemont shook his head helplessly.

"Bad news guys," Ash said to Shaggy as he and the girls come towards Clemont so they can speak in the communicator. "We couldn't find anything on the stage. Guess that guy wasn't as reckless as we thought."

"Rold ron a recond, rids!" Scooby's voice breaks through the communicator. A few seconds went by as they heard shuffling come from the other end, meaning that Shaggy and Scooby are looking through the monitors.

"Got it!" Shaggy's voice speaks up. "Check the backstage, kids. Like, there's bound to be something in there that's a clue!"

"Thanks Shaggy!" Ash said into the communicator before they begin their descend to the backstage. When they got there, they realized the backstage wasn't like any backstage they have ever seen before. Instead of it being one small, enclosed space, it was actually a long hallway filled with props and costumes.

"Now that's just weird..." Bonnie mumbles as they pass by a deformed animatronic.

Finally after what seemed like forever, they finally got to a place where they think could store potential clues; the dressing room.

"Shaggy, we're gonna go in the dressing room. Let us know if you see anything." Clemont informs the two cowards quickly before he and his friends make their way into the dressing room. The dressing room was obviously used for multiple people since they could see multiple rows of chairs and mirrors. In the back they can see the changing room for people to put on their costumes.

However, they didn't focused on the dressing room since they noticed something on the table that caught their interests. It was a blueprint. This they found odd, though. Why would someone leave a blueprint in a dressing room like this? Walking over to it with his friends, Clemont picks up the blueprint and unravels it to take a look at what someone was planning to build.

His eyes widen once he catches the title for the building object out of the corner of his eyes. "Hey guys, look at this!" Clemont shows the blueprint friends, with their eyes widening as well. Written in bold, white letters the title reads **Puppet Master's Music Box**. They can see a complete diagram of how to put a familiar music box together.

"'Puppet Master...'" Serena mumbles thoughtfully before looking at her friends. "Isn't that the name of that weird animatronic we just saw?"

"And didn't Shaggy said Fred, Velma, and Daphne started to act weird when they heard that thing?" Ash adds in.

"Well, the only way we can know is if we figure out how this person made this music box." Clemont said. Soon, they found themselves reading through the blueprints in hopes to find something useful.

Meanwhile with Shaggy and Scooby, the two were busy lounging around. Shaggy had his feet up on the desk with his arms behind his head while Scooby was busy spinning himself on the chair. So far they haven't seen anything they should warn the kids about, so it eventually ease their anxiousness to the point that they're now laid-back.

"You know something, Scooby?" Shaggy suddenly asks when Scooby began to spin himself again. "We should, like, get a job as security years ago! I mean, we're like excellent owl watchers! I wonder why we never even consider it before?"

"Re roo!" Scooby said cheerfully before spinning himself once again. "WEEEE!"

"Yeah, Scoob! Maybe we should apply for a job once we solve this-" Shaggy stops himself when he noticed something in the screen where the stage is being displayed. Taking his feet off the table, Shaggy slides himself closer to the desk so he can get a good look at the screen. "Um, Scooby? Was that creepy animatronic always like that or am I getting FNAF references?"

Scooby stops his spinning to look at the screen in confusion. What did Shaggy mean by-Oh... Although he never played the games, Scooby could understand why Shaggy was so freaked out by animatronics. Before, the Puppet Master's head was facing in the audience's direction where she was originally set. Now, her head is facing the direction of backstage, right where the kids are...

"Ruh, maybe it was a last minute working system?" Scooby suggested feebly, even he didn't understand what he's just said. Before Shaggy could retort, the Puppet Master starts moving from her spot on the stage towards the backstage, moving rapidly like she was on a conveyor built. Remembering what the kids told them, they realized where the Puppet Master is heading.

"I'm starting to remember why we never applied for security jobs..." Scooby mumbled while staring at the screen with wide eyes along with Shaggy, who is slowly moving the communicator towards his mouth while is eyes still remain on the spot where the Puppet Master left.

"Kids..." Shaggy begins, his voice soft and low since he's still in shock at what he just saw. "Get out of there," Now his face starts to get louder and more panic-stricken by each word. "Now! Now! Something's coming your way!"

Although his communicator is working, Clemont couldn't hear Shaggy's warning clearly due to the poor reception. Frowning, Clemont brings in the communicator close. "Uh, can you say that again Shaggy?"

"...Out...Creepy...Run..." Was all the children managed to hear from the static sounds, making them give each other weirded-out looks.

"Say it in words we can understand!" Bonnie shouts, fed up with not being able to understand. Before they could get a chance to hear more of Shaggy's warning, a loud _clang_ from behind them and causes them to jump fearfully, even Clemont unfortunately dropped the blueprints back on the desk. Soon they heard a female, robotic laughter from behind them, sending shivers down their spines.

"Uh, Shaggy? I think we got the message!" Ash shouts fearfully before the kids slowly turn around to face the monster of this case.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! So, I just got out of my first week at my new school and I'm happy to say I survived from the homework they suddenly gave me (For now...)! Also, I should probably mention that my school work could get in the way of my writing schedule, so I probably won't be able to update my stories as frequently as I would like. I'm sorry, but my school system is _very_ strict to make sure all the students get the best education they can and I have more responsibilities so... Yeah. Also, I'm working on a Pokémon horror story on DeviantArt and a Wicked Fandom (Yes, Wicked has caught my attention, but my passion will always be with Pokémon!) story. So I'll be pretty busy. But now, just enjoy this chapter by Joltie! :D**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Don't worry, things will be resolve soon... But until then, enjoy the suspense of this chapter!**

 **Omarnosian10: That... Is an undetermined suggestion who's fate will remain undetermined until the series continues.**

 **Guest #1: Well, there's no music sadly. Yeah, Ash has been through a lot and he was using his willpower so he won't recover so easily.**

 **Satoshi-Greninja: That... Is completely undetermined since I haven't found the inspiration for it. If it makes you feel any better, my Pokémon horror story shows the connection Ash and Greninja have, but it will take a while for that scene to happen.**

 **Blaze: Yeah, but Officer Jenny doesn't know that. Classic "you got the wrong guy" idea.**

 **Lightwing: They are a lot of things we don't know about Shaggy, do we? :)**

 **Darkwing: That is one of cartoon's greatest mysteries we can never figure out. Basically saying that Janitor thinks he can make it big as a performer and he loves the classics.**

 **Matt: I know! I just found that "Dictate my will" line and I absolutely love it! Also, I really can't imagine anything in Shaggy and Scooby's will other than food. Um, I'm not into those AAA horror games because I've still mentally recovering from seeing a man's head getting and seeing everything going across-um, I probably shouldn't even mention this in a K+ story. But if it makes you feel any better, the horror story I'm making for Pokémon on DeviantArt is based on the RPG Horror Games known as "Mad Father", "Witch's House", and "Corpse Party" so there's that! You'll have to wait until I upload it this weekend, though.**

 **Mr. R: Well, Stan knows Taku well and while he did dressed up as the Specter, he had good intentions, just didn't do it right.**

 **Guest #2: Thanks Steel! (I can tell it's you just by the way you write.) Let me guess, Looney Tunes nostalgia? Sorry about the errors, can't do much about them. Uh... I SAW NOTHING! *Runs away***

 **Storygirl000: It's probably one of Shaggy's "I don't get scared so easily" moments. Bet you anything that he regrets it now. ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

The children looked up at the figure that was blocking their exit in fear. Although they weren't awake during her first appearance, they instantly knew who she was and she was hideous. That hair, those eyes, that hideous sharp teethed grin. Bonnie realised that her older brother was cowering behind her; Dedenne had hidden itself deeply in her pouch. Serena was clutching onto her crush's jacket who was shaking slightly but doing his best to hide his fear from the others. One of them needed to be strong right now. The cogs in his mind were whirring, coming up with a plan for escape, a plan to get everyone out safely without problem.

 _"WeLl, WeLl, WeLl, WhAt Do We HaVe HeRe?!"_ The Puppet Master cackled, holding her box closely to her chest. " _A bUnCh Of RoUgE cHiLdReN aNd A rAt!"_ What she hadn't noticed, and what she should have really noticed was that, whilst the kids were backing towards the dressing room's table top, one of them was grabbing it in a way to use the edge to jump up onto it. The events that occurred then happened in quick succession. Whilst the Puppet Master was distracted with winding up the music box, Ash pushed himself onto the table top and used it to jump in the air, aiming his foot at the animatronic's music box.

The Puppet Master realised his intentions as she saw him, lowering her box from his line of kick, not knowing the ten year-old had planned that to happen. Using the box as a push off point, he managed to land a foot onto the animatronic's face, making her fall backwards, losing her balance.

"Come on!" He yelled to his friends, all of whom were looking in awe at his acrobatics, Pikachu applauding from his space on the floor.

"I so want you to teach me how to do that!" Bonnie grinned as the group ran out of the dressing room, not knowing how much of a head start Ash had managed to buy them.

"Maybe later!" Serena said kindly before turning her head towards Clemont. "Get in contact with Shaggy! We need to talk to him!"

"Right!" Clemont pressed a few buttons on his wrist communicator, trying to get it working whilst in panic. "Shaggy! Scooby! Come in! Can you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear, little dude!" Relief spread through the group as the oh-so-lovable and familiar voice responded to the call.

"We need you two to direct us through the theatre!" Bonnie took over, jerking her brother's arm closer to her mouth, causing him to protest against the sudden faster pace he had to run at. "We're kind being chased by an ugly old robot." A loud screech made the kids turn their heads around as the Puppet Master ran after them, having changed forms into a hideous six-legged monster, obviously outraged by being called both ugly and old in the same sentence.

 _"JuSt YoU wAiT uNtIl i GeT mY hAnDs On YoU, bAsEbAlL hEaD!"_ She screeched, causing the children to look each other in confusion until they realised what she had meant.

"Baseball head? Did she just call me Baseball head?" Ash sounded more annoyed than angry, obviously because the robot thought up of a name because of the hat he was wearing, an old fashioned style of nicknaming enemies which was totally not creative.

 _"YoU aNd YoUr TwErPiSh IdIoTiC fRiEnDs WiLl FeEl My WrAth!"_ The Puppet Master shouted, not knowing what implications her words had caused. Ash stopped running, his friends flying past him as he turned on his heels and dashed in the direction of the robot, anger covering his features.

"ASH!" The Kalosian citizens stopped as well, wondering what in the name of Mew had gotten into their Kantonese friend. He ignored them, building up momentum until he placed all of his weight onto one foot and led his other into a turning kick, using the built up force in smashing his limb into the robot's face. Needless to say, it worked.

The Puppet Master went flying backwards, crashing into the nearest wall, becoming an entanglement of leg limbs and robotics. Quickly, Ash turned and ran back to his friends, noticing their looks of pure disbelief.

"What? She said horrible things about you. I thought it was right thing to do." After a quick glance back to their chaser, a smile formed on his face. "Also, I think I've just brought us some more time."

"Hello, like guys? What's going on over there?!" Shaggy's worried voice echoed through the communicator, causing the four to remember the fact that they had actually made a form of contact to their friends in the security room.

"Long version or short?" Clemont asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Uhh… short." Scooby spoke up for the two adult males this time.

"Ash just basically gave the robot a face kick to remember, literally, I think he caused a dent." Serena chuckled, remembering the event with glee and joy. The line was silent for a moment before two voices of pure shock and horror screeched loudly at them.

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah… I understand if you can't comprehend it…" Clemont said with a slight shrug of the shoulders as he ran however Shaggy's voice spoke up once more.

"That's… AWESOME! Like, way to go Ash!"

"Reah! Rawesome!"

The raven haired boy blushed slightly as he laughed nervously, Pikachu grinning proudly from the floor as he ran on all fours. "Thanks guys, it was nothing really."

"You were saying?" Bonnie gave her older brother a sly look of sass which the inventor really didn't appreciate, especially since the Puppet Master had gotten untangled and was after them once again. The robot looked livid, increasing her speed as she rushed after the children in a rage over being called names and being kicked in the face twice.

"Directions please, and quickly!" Serena cried as she turned her head back slightly only to pale as she noticed the Puppet Master closing the sizeable gap between them.

"Right!" There were scuffling sounds in the background as the two Mystery Inc. members rushed around trying to find out where the GPS of the communication device was until it was silent for a moment.

"Gotcha, turn left at the next turning!" Following the instructions, the children made the quick skidding turn as they followed the path that Shaggy and Scooby were making them follow. However, there was no doubt behind it, they trusted the two with their lives and wouldn't question them with something as important as this.

Bonnie looked over her shoulder, noticing that the Puppet Master was no longer behind them, causing suspicion to rise in the young girl's mind. Since she wasn't looking at where she was running, she didn't notice the piece of upturned rug which her foot caught in, causing her to topple to the ground with a loud yelp. Obviously her friends and brother, stopped running, turning back to go and help her out however, from her position Bonnie realised that the chase hadn't ended yet, the robot was just using her spider like legs to walk on the ceiling. The Puppet Master let go, landing mere inches away from where the eight year-old had fallen, pure evil glee rising on her metallic features.

"BONNIE!" The others shouted with worry, fear travelling through their bloodstreams as the eminent was about to happen yet, it didn't. Dedenne jumped out of Bonnie's pouch, cheeks sparking as it prepared itself for a Nuzzle attack. Pikachu also jumped up from the ground, using a weak Thunderbolt to power the Nuzzle up. As Dedenne made contact, the robot's movements became sporadic; seizures distorted her body with arcs of electricity leaping off of her metallic figure. Seemingly, after minutes of painful screaming, the Puppet Master powered down, the electricity seemingly have damaged her circuits.

"Did that do it?" Ash asked, having a nagging feeling in the back of his head that this insane mechanical monstrosity wasn't down for the count.

"I think so." Clemont muttered, helping his little sister up as he spoke. "Electronics, when over powered, stop working. Fuses melt, circuits are damaged beyond repair and certain vital mechanisms are destroyed, rendering the machine useless and to some extent, unusable."

Bonnie was ignoring her brother, choosing to stroke Dedenne and Pikachu on their heads. "Thanks for saving me, you two." She grinned happily, to which the two electric types squeaked out their own joy back. Hey, they were getting a free head massage. She stopped when the whirring of locks entered the children's ears. The Puppet Master was rebooting and relatively quickly. Her eyes flashed open as she cackled, back in her normal form.

 _"TwAs BuT a ScRaTcH."_ The robot brushed her arms as if she was getting dried dirt off of them. As the children backed away, she pushed herself forwards, twitching every now and again making her seem even creepier than she already was. Suddenly, one of the kids had a bright idea.

"Look! It's that security guard you love!" Serena yelled, pointing behind the Puppet Master, who turned around with hearts in her horror movie-like eyes.

 _"WhErE?!"_ However, the guard wasn't there, causing her to growl before turning around to find the children… gone. She screamed angrily as she realised that was another diversion. Oh, she was so going to cause pain for those kids before she hypnotised them with her music.

"How on Earth did you know that thing was in love with this hall's security guard?!" Clemont questioned as the group of four ran through the hallways and corridors, sometimes getting information from the two in the watch room.

"Guessed." Serena began blushing suddenly, showing that she was lying. "Well, guessed from the fan base's assumptions…"

"The what?" Ash raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was talking about.

"Looks like Serena has been reading fanfictions and shipping stories!" Bonnie teased in a sing-song tone, earning her a glare from the older girl.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Serena still had a blush on her face, showing the others that she had been, oh boy. There was no time to comment back on that however, a horrific roar from the end of the corridor told the children that the Puppet Master was right behind them and ready to strike!

For the next ten minutes, the children tried to lose her, going every twist and turn that Shaggy and Scooby told them to go down but failing to get the monstrous robot off of their backs. Nothing was working, not even running in circles to confuse her. She was gaining on the kids, all of whom were tiring out due to all of the additional exercise they were performing; Clemont was near enough about to pass out. Soon they would be in deep trouble. The robot behind them was cackling and the fear behind getting caught was the only thing keeping them running. However, trust a certain someone's clumsiness to keep them from being caught.

Ash had managed to get his foot caught in a long rug, making him stumble but nothing much else happened, unlike the Puppet Master got onto it. Due to the stumble, a large amount of the rug was bunched together and, since the floor was actually polished wood, her six legs only worked together to pull the rug towards her, not allowing the robot to move anywhere whatsoever. For the kids however, it was a God send. In a space where the rug once was, a sewer grate.

With all four children working together, they managed to pull up the cover in an immense struggle that drained them of most of their remaining energy. By then, the Puppet Master had untangled her legs from the fabric of the rug, leaving one thing left to do.

Jump.

Ash went first, falling silently until a splash was heard below. Serena followed, with Bonnie having to push her brother screaming into the hole before she grinned and jumped down, curling herself into a ball for added affect when she hit the water. The Puppet Master reached the sewer entrance and growled, there was no way to get those children now, she'd have to wait until she could find another way down there safely or when she next saw those rascals. Slowly, she turned around and left, the children sighing in relief when her horrible face left their sights.

Clemont was glad that his wrist communicator he invented was waterproof, especially after his little sister's dive-bomb. "Was that even necessary?"

"Of course!" Bonnie grinned, noticing how drenched her brother and friends were. "At least it was clean water and not dirty stuff!"

"She's right about that." Serena muttered; picking up some of the water in her cupped hands which looked as see through as it normally would. "This must be the entrance pipe. I guess we got lucky, right Ash…" She looked up to notice that her friend had turned a shade of white as he trembled. "Ash?!"

"Shaggy and Scooby! That robot's probably out for them now!" He turned to face Clemont with a stern leader like expression.

"Clemont, get in contact with them as soon as possible!"

The Gym Leader nodded and saluted jokingly. "Yes sir!" He turned on the communicator, glad once again that it was waterproof.

"Shaggy, Scooby… do you copy?!" A few moments passed without a word, worrying the gang until the crackled voices of their friends filled them with relief.

"Reah! Rhat's up?!" Scooby answered.

"Guys, the Puppet Master is heading your way!" Ash responded; realising how he had just phrased the situation and gulping, awaiting the outburst he knew would happen. And yet, moments later he got it. Two loud, terrified screams caused the communicator's tiny speakers to nearly cause the device to explode.

Shaggy and Scooby were panicking like crazy. Whilst they were glad to hear that the kids were okay and free from the Puppet Master, they now had to worry about themselves. Running around the security room seemed the best way for them to try and relieve the rising fear inside of them.

"HEY! LISTEN UP!" Bonnie's voice entered their ears and they stopped for a moment. "The room has doors you can lock, preventing anything from getting in! Just lock them; this place has infinite power after all!"

"You hear that, Scoob?" Shaggy turned to his best friend, swallowing a large lump of saliva in his throat. "This is like a real Five Night's at Freddy's."

"Roh great…" Scooby groaned, now wishing he had played the games alongside his friend now. Shaggy pressed the buttons on the doors, shutting them instantly. As the two looked outside, they realised how close that the shutting of the doors had been to their near evident attack as the Puppet Master screeched at them from the outside before a look of cunning plastered her plastic features and she disappeared from view. Minutes passed and they had seen no sign of the robot on the cameras. Apart from the wading of the children in the sewers, they heard nothing. What exactly was the Puppet Master planning? Shaggy decided to find out what their younger friends were up to now.

"Like, you guys okay?" He asked, waiting only seconds until he got his response.

"We're fine Shaggy!" Serena said with enthusiasm, apparently happy about something. "We're almost out of the sewer system and will be waiting for you guys at the front of the Lumiose Hall!"

"Roh-kay!" Scooby answered before both sides went quite once again before a scrapping sound coming from the air vents entered their ears. "Rhat's that?!"

"You did seal the air vents, didn't you?" Clemont inquired through the communication line. "That's one of the other ways she can get in otherwise…" However, the warning came in too late. The mechanical arm of the Puppet Master stretched out of the vent shaft, her glowing purple eyes causing Shaggy and Scooby to scream in terror and hug each other shaking. Before the robot could fully make her way into the office, the hippie pressed the door button opening it for an easy escape.

"Like, exit stage left!"

"Reah! Reft!" Scooby agreed as they dashed out of the office, disappearing down the hallways towards the exit so that they could meet up with the children. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, not looking backwards at all or even caring that they could. The two didn't even noticed that they had passed the reception until the cold Lumiose air hit their faces and they slammed the doors shut, trapping that robot inside. And just to make sure, they nailed boards across the front of the doors.

"Umm, isn't that a bit too much?" Shaggy and Scooby turned around to see Bonnie with her hands on her hips, giving them a confused expression, the others behind her, all of them were dripping wet with the sewer system's water.

"No way!" Shaggy shook his head violently. "Nuh-uh! Not with that thing in there!" The kids just gave each other un-amused looks and shrugged their shoulders.

"Whatever you say Shaggy." They said in sync, not caring how creepy that sounded. They were waterlogged, tired and just wanted a good night's sleep. Now all they needed to do was find Taku.

* * *

If there was one thing that Taku Ketchum could ever say about a bank robbery is that the ones on TV were nothing like the one in here and were more realistic, and that's saying something with the way TV is. Broken shards of glass from the windows and doors littered the floor, the vault's door had been pulled so harshly and by so many people that it had been ripped off its hinges. He shivered at the thought of multiple people being able to do that in a hypnotised state, trying to quench their thirst for money.

The Ketchum family in general hadn't really been rich, not to the point of being millionaires like he was but then again, Taku had built his business up on his own two feet and nothing else, his parents gushing over his brother's Pokémon training over his education. However, by the time he was earning singular millions, his parents finally decided they'd focus on him over his brother, causing relations between the two siblings to hit an all-time low. Taku was too interested in the business to search for any love life, leaving his status as single whereas his brother married a small town girl from Pallet named Delia, and to be honest, the two really did love each other and the marriage wasn't out of spite. However relations between the brothers remained edgy, until that one day.

Taku wasn't surprised to hear that the two had decided to have a baby, many married couples did and since they hadn't had the child before marriage, his parents were respectful of Delia, calling her the daughter they had never had. He was travelling to Viridian from the continents when a panicked phone call from his parents made him change his plans to Pallet Town instead. At first, he thought someone had been hurt when only his father and brother met him, only to find out he had a baby nephew instead. As long as he would live, Taku would never forget first holding Ash in his arms, the smile that he got and that tiny hand holding one of his fingers. His brother had taken him aside and asked if he could stick around, saying he really wanted his brother to be a part of his son's life. All because of one baby, the brothers' relationship had been patched up to a degree and they could cope with being in the same room.

As time passed, the Millionaire found himself constantly at the flat in which Delia stayed at above the restaurant in which she worked, the one which his brother had moved into, looking after his nephew when both of the boy's parents were extremely tired or both at work however that rarely happened as the League only asked his brother to attend a meeting once a month. He noticed the flat wasn't good enough for raising a young boy and was dangerous for both the parents and the baby, so he offered to buy one of the two story houses in the town for them instead, which was heavily thanked by both his brother and Delia. It didn't take long to find which one they wanted, a red roofed one with a large back garden and a plot of soil at the side for planting floors. Oh, and by a large back garden, I mean some of the fields surrounding the house's location were also a part of the buy. Perfect for when Ash was older.

At times, Taku wanted to thank his brother for letting him stay around as he managed to see some of his nephew's firsts. The first word Ash ever said was "Mama" then "Papa" and, third place "Unky" and yes, all happened within quick succession of the other. He could also remember his nephew's first steps. As far as Taku knew, Ash had never shuffled or crawled, just sat there watching the adults until one day, a few weeks after his first birthday when Delia and Taku were watching him whilst chatting, he had grabbed the top of the coffee table, pulled himself up, and took a few wobbly steps towards his mother, arms outstretched. Delia had yelled at her husband to come in the lounge right now with a camera, which he did, recording a happy moment in the family's life.

Things continued swimmingly until Ash was four, Delia and his brother had been arguing a lot and, for a week, Delia asked if Taku could look after Ash. Of course, having done it before, he happily obliged, realising that the situation in the house wasn't good for a four year-old to be around. However, a week and a half later, more than planned, Delia called Taku up crying saying that her husband has left and wasn't coming back, abandoning herself and her son for no apparent reason. The millionaire was angry with his brother, livid, fuming. Words couldn't describe the emotions he felt. He then promised Delia that he would support her and Ash for as long as they needed and he'd be always there for his nephew and kept that promise, taking the boy on holiday trips so Delia could have some time to herself, coming over for birthdays and just randomly visiting when he had the time.

Taku was so deep in his thoughts that only a knock against his foot brought him out of it, looking down to see an old mechanism. It was slightly rusted, it looked like a…

"A spring lock?" He picked it up, studying the thing closely, realising it was similar to the ones Mr. Fazbear showed him back then he was invited to the restaurant. But, what was one doing here? Unless…

"Uncle Taku!" A familiar voice called from outside as a group of children, two Pokémon, one dog and a hippie rushed into the bank, gasping for breath.

"Ash! What's wrong?" Taku asked, wondering why they all looked scared and were slightly pale, except for the fact they had just been running.

"Mr. Ketchum, we need to get out of here now!" Serena said quickly, a stern expression covered her face as she talked. "The blockade Shaggy made didn't hold and now she's out!"

The millionaire looked at them all in bewilderment before inquiring about what he wanted to know. "Who's she?"

"Like, ask her for yourself!" Shaggy trembled as everyone looked outside the entrance of the bank. A short while away, coming towards them was the Puppet Master herself.

She couldn't help but grin when her eyes laid themselves on the cowering children and those two idiots from the music hall, however, another man was with them, this one she knew all too well, that billionaire. Now she could add them to her hypnotised army and there would be no one to stop her. She pulled out her music box, grabbing the handle and cranking it around revealing the tune for the entire city to hear and, oh boy, did it hear. In homes, cars, out on the streets, people fell victim to the entrancing lullaby and began to respond to their master's whim. The Police station was experiencing a full on break out as people caught from the original robberies were doing whatever they could to escape, some hypnotised police officers were helping them out and everything was becoming the embodiment of chaos.

As soon as the Melody began to play, Shaggy and Scooby helped to cover the ears of Serena, Ash, Bonnie and Taku, the Pokémon not being affected by the melody at all. However, that left one person without any protection.

"Big brother!" Bonnie cried worriedly, however she relaxed slightly when her brother showed no signs of becoming hypnotised. He even blinked and gave them a confused look.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?" He asked, causing everyone to sweat drop.

"That explains the torturous singing we hear from the showers at the Pokémon Center." Serena sighed, placing a hand on her face.

"Yeah, it's big brother who's tone deaf, not Ash." Bonnie added, looking extremely unamused.

"Why does everyone assume I'm the one who's tone deaf?!" Ash shouted exasperatedly, raising his hands up to the heavens as if to throw his question up there. When the melody was over, the hands disappeared from the not-so tone deaf people's ears as the Puppet Master growled at them.

 _"My MiNiOnS oF tHe NiGhT!"_ She commanded as the hypnotised people began to gather in the square. _"We WiLl ObTaIn RiChEs. BuT fIrSt, GeT tHaT bAsEbAlL hEaD aNd HiS fRiEnDs!"_

"Again with the Baseball head?" Ash sighed before Shaggy dragged him away from the entrance as they tried to run from the danger surrounding them however, it was too late. The many hypnotised people had now encircled the group. Shaggy could even see the blonde, brown, and orange hair colours of Fred, Velma and Daphne as a part of the horde of people, wondering how on Earth they got out of the Police Station. However, there wasn't time to ponder on it. Right now, the gang had only one thought running amongst their minds.

They were trapped.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hello one and all! Back with a chapter that's created by me. Sorry for this being up later than usual, I had a _lot_ of School work to do and I have other stories to work on. I promise I will continue my Saturday updates, but it might take a while for them to be posted on Saturday. Anyway, onto the Shoutouts! P.S. The song used in this chapter is called _Fight Song_ by _Rachel Platten_**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Omarnosia10: Well, that's Joltie work. I'm sure they're glad for the praise, though!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Guest #1: Well, there's going to be a chase scene, no music though. And I don't think I've heard of that one.**

 **Mr. R: *Poker Face* I can't reply to the theory. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Blaze: I'm sure Joltie appreciates that. Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Lightwing: Because of Ash's hat. It does look like a baseball hat if you look closely. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Darkwing: It's because he's tone-deaf, just like Shaggy and Scooby. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Hex: Thanks! Kinda already saw the Kalos League. I'm not saying any spoilers though. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Steel: Thanks! Don't worry, I can pretty much recognize your style of writing so it's easy to know if it's you. Oh, if it makes you feel any better, Ash has no memory of his Dad, so there's that. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Satoshi-Greninja: Uh, why was Scrappy suddenly brought into the conversation?**

 **Guest #2: Uh, no... That would be pretty random and not tying into the storyline...**

 **Mystery person: Oh, thank you! I hope you like this chapter! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

The group found themselves backing into a building as they're currently being cornered by the hypnotized people surrounding them. Shaggy and Scooby couldn't help but whimper as the hypnotized Fred, Velma, and Daphne slowly make their way over to them like a predator taunting the prey. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to mention that they're letting the kids have everything in their will as the last thing their older friends heard before they got hypnotized again by the Puppet Master. However, they didn't have time to dwell on that because they remember that the kids are in danger and joins alongside Taku with standing in front of the children to protect from the herd of zombie people before them.

A mechanical and glitch-y laughter nearby caught their attention. After being able to see through the choir of hypnotized people, the Puppet Master stood in the back of the crowd, laughing with a hint of taunt in her glitched voice at their situation, knowing they have no where to run. _"PeRhApS tHiS wIlL teach YoU aLl A lEsSoN fOr MeDdLiNg!"_ The Puppet Master looks back at all of her victims. _"WeLl DoN't JuSt StAnD tHeRe, GeT tHeM!"_ The puppets all flinch from her high voice but continue their way towards the cowering friends.

Shaggy and Scooby found themselves panicking from within, they're completely cornered. And while both of them and Clemont are tone-deaf, they know that the others weren't so they will be helpless victims to the Puppet Master's music box if they've become caught. Ash being control by something again is the _last_ they want to see, the Specter was bad enough when it possessed their little buddy and he's still suffering from nightmares for a few months after that incident. Even Ash didn't like the idea of being controlled again since Shaggy and Scooby could practically hear the boy whimpering from behind them and can feel his grip on Shaggy's arm tightening. They need to find a way out of here, and fast.

It didn't take long for them to find a way out, actually they were surprised they haven't noticed it before now. There's this small gap in the crowd of hypnotized people, one that was big enough for all of them to run through it if only the hypnotized people weren't so focused on them. If they were to run through there right now, then they will be easily grabbed. They need to find a way to distract them, and Shaggy and Scooby just know how to do that.

"Like, HOLD IT!" Everyone stops what they were doing, even the non-hypnotized people, to look at Shaggy and Scooby in confusion. "Like, before you all grab us and turn us into clown-face's animated puppets," Shaggy had to use all of his willpower to ignore the heated glare he was getting from the Puppet Master. "But can me and my dog just say..."

"ROOK!" Scooby suddenly points his finger to the right, his eyes full of unspeakable panic.

"IT'S THE WORLD'S MOST DISTRACTING OBJECT!" Shaggy screamed, pointing in the same direction as Scooby with the same look in his eyes.

Startled, everyone, including the other non-hypnotized people, whip their heads into the direction they pointed on instinct. Seeing that their distraction has work, the two cowards quickly grab their friends by the arms and drag them through the small gap in the crowd before they all found themselves running away from the hypnotized crowd.

 _"WhAt ThE-?"_ The Puppet Master looks back in the spot where her soon-to-be victims are before she noticed they have disappeared. Furious upon realizing she has been tricked, the Puppet Master growls with her metallic fists clenched at her sides before addressing her confused subjects. _"aFtEr ThEm!"_ Wincing at their master's angry tone, the hypnotized citizens quickly ran after our heroes.

"I still can't believe that worked again!" Clemont voices his opinion as they continue their pace to get away from the hypnotized people as fast as they can. Shaggy and Scooby knew what the young genius was talking because they remember how Scooby pulled the same trick on the Specter a few months back.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Bonnie asked, looking excited at the thought of how she can easily trick people like that. Before Shaggy or Scooby could respond, the moaning of multiple voices from behind them caught their attention. Looking over their shoulders, their eyes widen when they see the wave of hypnotized people coming at them full blast.

"Zoinks! Maybe later, kid!" Shaggy screamed as they all began to pick up their pace in hopes to get away from the wave.

Seeing that they're coming up to an alleyway with a stack of boxes at the entrance, Taku came up with an idea. "Quick! Everyone into that alley!" Not being needed to be told twice, the groups of friends quickly took a sharp turn into the alleyway while Taku stayed behind a bit. Once he reached the stack of boxes at the entrance, Taku quickly threw them down as a blockage to the entrance. Satisfied that it was enough to keep the hypnotized people at bay for a while, Taku quickly hurried after his nephew and his friends.

Back with the group, they found themselves stopping when they reached a fork in the path. Two ways to go. Which way should they choose?

"Rhis way!" Scooby announced, taking the lead as he run down the path on the right. Having no better options, they all follow after the dog, Shaggy taking the rear in hopes to keep the children safe if any of the hypnotized people found them. Meanwhile, Taku had found his way to the fork path but didn't know which way the others have gone. Hearing the moans from the hypnotized people from behind him, Taku wasted no time and went down the left path.

* * *

The group of friends found themselves in a chase full of panic. Whenever they found another fork, they just went down the first path that they could think of, never stopping or looking back once. Just listening to the sounds around them in case there's anything out of the ordinary and they need to run like heck. They finally cease their running when Clemont couldn't find the willpower to run anymore.

"No...more...running...!" The genius panted, having enough so he could put his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. Seeing their friend stop running made them all stop running just so they don't leave him behind.

"Clemont! Now's not a good time to take a break!" Bonnie yells at her brother, throwing her hands down to her sides like a toddler in the middle of a tantrum would.

"Like, wait a sec, kid!" Shaggy suddenly shouts, looking over the corner they had run from before turning back to them. "I think we're far enough away. Like, let's just walk for right now."

Frowning a little, the kids agreed to it anyway because they trust Shaggy's judgement, it didn't mean they felt comfortable with it because they're lost in an alleyway with almost the entire city after them. Seeing that coast is clear so far, the kids began their walk down the alleyway with Shaggy and Scooby, taking a few glances around them in case something tries to pop out at them.

"Wait, what about Uncle Taku?" Ash suddenly asked, realizing that his Uncle is nowhere nearby or even close for them to hear his footsteps.

"I'm sure he's alright, Ash." Serena said, hoping she could keep Ash calm. The last thing they needed was for Ash to panic. "I'll bet you he'll meet us later on."

"Yeah, okay..." Ash said, although his tone sounded like he didn't believe her.

They continue their walking pace for a while, often looking around a few times before continuing on their way. They still always go to the first path that springs into mind, however, the everlasting silence was beginning to kill them. Finally, Clemont decided to speak up. "Um, where exactly are we going?"

"Like, I don't care as long as I don't see anything walk on spider-legs and looks like creepy clown from that Stephen King book." Shaggy said with a small whimper. Just after he said, they all walk pass a giant billboard that said: _Come see the new Horror Attraction!_ with Mr. Mine on the front with a smile that almost matches the Puppet Master's. Seeing that made Shaggy shudder at the sight. "Oh boy, especially that! What is that? Some type of clown?"

"It's a Mr. Mine, Shaggy." Bonnie deadpan.

"Oh, right..." Shaggy rubbed his head awkwardly before they continue on the path they're on.

* * *

Taku found himself running for who knows how long, but after a while, he couldn't run any longer. Even though he's clearing in shape, his stamina isn't what it used to be back when he was in his 20's and 30's. Finding a trash bin to lean against, Taku pause to catch his breath while placing his hand to his heart. He could practically feel his heart beating out of his chest from all the running, the concern for his nephew's safety, and the panic from fleeing nearly all of Lumiose City's population.

"I'm getting too old for this..." He mumbled, his throat slight hoarse due to all the running he just went through. Before he could continue his break, moans nearby caught his attention. Taku whip his head around to see shadows of the hypnotized citizens coming towards him from the corner. Having no other choice, Taku begins to run again.

* * *

So far, our heroes haven't seen any hypnotized people so far or heard them come anywhere near, which is a good sign. However, that still didn't calm their anxious stomach. Just because it may seem like they're all alone in the alley, doesn't mean it could be true. Shaggy and Scooby already had enough experience during all the times they solve mysteries and the "Specter Incident" has made the kids paranoid to whenever they're in a situation like this.

They soon found themselves on another fork. Shaggy suddenly says, "Like, wait here," before he and Scooby poke their heads around the corner of the right path while the kids stay behind in case something bad happens. Unknown to them, a familiar hand with a white sleeve slowly moves out of the darkness that they had previously walked out from, where it suddenly grips the shoulder, that is not occupied by Pikachu, of Ash.

Eyes widening when he felt that large hand clamp down onto his shoulder and feeling it tighten only gave him more of the feeling of dread, Ash whip his head down to see the hand on his shoulder. With a scream, Ash grabs the hand with both of his own hands and, with all of his strength, judo-flip his attack to a nearby wall, startling all his friends.

"Wait a second, is that Freddie?!" Clemont asked after adjusting his glasses. His words ring true, the person that Ash judo-flipped is, indeed, Fred, who is currently laying upside down against the wall, completely daze from the sudden attack. Remembering that he, along with the girls, were in the crowd of hypnotized people, the kids slowly back away in fear.

Seeing their blonde friend was not what shocked Shaggy and Scooby. Slowly, they turn their heads towards Ash with a mixture of awe and amazement on their faces. "So, like wait, it _wasn't_ the Specter using his strength back at the camp. It was really you using your own strength the whole time?" Shaggy asked. Suddenly, the kids turn and glare at them for mention the incident _now_ out of all times.

This makes the two cowards wince once they realize what they just said. "Ruh, rorry..." Scooby mumbles awkwardly.

Before they could say anything else, lifeless moans from behind them caught their attention. Slowly, with trepidation, they turn their heads to the darkness that Freddie was forced out to see what is the caused of those moans. Their eyes steadily widen when they see the familiar figures of Daphne and Velma, both walking like zombies with their arms out, walk out of darkness. Their eyes are clouded-over, showing that the girls are still under the control of the Puppet Master's music box.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy shouts as they begin to back away with their eyes still focused on the hypnotized girls who are still coming towards them gradually. Out of the corner of his eyes, Shaggy could see Freddie getting back up on his feet and is now joining the girls' pursuit on them. "Like, everyone run!" Not being needed to be told twice, they all turn-tail and run down the path that Shaggy and Scooby previously checked. They didn't dare look back since they could hear the moans of the other members of Mystery Inc. right behind them.

"This way" Shaggy tells them as they run down a corner that was the first one in their sights. Just as they got a few feet into the alleyway, they stop dead in their tracks one they realized there's this gigantic brick-wall standing in their way.

"Read end!" Scooby screamed in panic.

Moans suddenly made Pikachu's ears twitch violently, making the Electric Mouse snap its head around its place on Ash's shoulder. "PIKA-PI! Pikachu shouted fearfully once it realizes what's behind them. Hearing his best friend's shout of fear, Ash whip his head around to find his own eyes widening. "In more ways than one!"

The others look over their shoulders only to scream once they realize that Ash is right. Blocking their only way out is the hypnotized Fred, Velma, and Daphne, who are gradually making their way over to them, with no way to run.

Once again, they were trap.

* * *

But they were not the only ones that were trapped.

Taku found himself running down a corner only to stop when he found a large brick wall standing right before him. Turning around, Taku thought he could run back out and find another path. However, he stops dead in his tracks once he realizes that he's to late and the hypnotized citizens beat him to it. He backed away as they slowly made their way over them, their stances almost reminding him of a zombie movie that Ash asked if he could watch when he was eight.

Just when he thought he was a goner, Taku caught something out of the corner of his eyes. It was a ladder that's been used for construction, and by the looks of it, the ladder was abandoned when the workers heard the music box. It may be a long way to the roof for his old legs could take, but he's gonna take what he's gonna get to get away from all this zombie-like people!

Taku hurries over to the ladder and begins his ascend towards the rooftops. Despite his kneecaps aching and practically begging him to stop, Taku kept on going until he reached the rooftop. Looking over the edge, he could see the hypnotized citizens already making their way over to the ladder in hopes to keep pursuing him. With all of his strength, Taku lifts the ladder off the ground and keeps pulling it until it's on the rooftop with him as well.

 _I'm getting too old for this..._ Taku thought as he pant with his hands on his knees. There were so many close calls and Taku didn't want them anymore.

"RIKES! RELP!" Taku whip his head up. That sounded like Scooby, and the last thing he remembered that Ash and his friends were running with Shaggy and Scooby. If Scooby is screaming like something is about to attack him, then Ash could be in danger!

Taku looks back down at the ladder before his feet, before letting out a small sigh. "Oh boy..." He grumbled as lifting the sleeves of his jumper up to his elbows before picking up the ladder and begins to drag it to where he believes he heard the Great Dane screamed.

* * *

Shaggy, Scooby, and the members of the XY Gang found themselves backing into the wall as the hypnotized members of Mystery Inc. continue their approach towards them, slowly taking their time to torture (courtesy of the Puppet Master). The two cowards' teeth chatter like beavers chomping on wood. This is not how they imagined they would go out, by a monster, yes. That's how they'd imagined. Not by the hands of their own friends, even when they began to fall out they never thought that Fred and the girls would actually hurt-hurt them.

"Kids, like, if this really is the end then me and Scooby got something to say..." Shaggy suddenly announced as they all felt their backs hit the cold brick wall that's preventing them from escaping.

"Whatever it is, Shaggy, make it quick!" Bonnie cried out as she, her brother, and her friends all grip each other tightly with their backs pressed up against the wall, believing it to be the end as well. They all close their eyes, waiting for the "heartfelt feelings" Shaggy and Scooby will tell them the two cowards have for them before they become hypnotized by the wicked Puppet Master.

However, the next words were something they were not expecting.

"We're rorry for stealing your Roké Ruffs! They were so rood!" Scooby shouted. It took a while for those words to sink in, but their thoughts are drawn back to Stan's camp when Serena made them Poké Puffs only to find them missing after she left them alone to cool down. Realizing this, the kids and Pokémon all turn their heads to glare at the two cowards with unspeakable fury.

"Wait, so that was you two?!" Ash asked, both Pikachu and him never looking more angry than they've ever been in their life. Pikachu even had a few sparks coming out of its cheeks.

"I made those Poké Puff for all of us!" Serena screamed, not liking the fact that her sweets (the ones she's specifically made for Ash) were wasted for Shaggy and Scooby's desire for food.

Unable to hold his rage, Clemont finally released it. "I had to blame my Chespin for somehow sneaking into the camp without us knowing!" He wag his finger at the two cowards.

"POKÉ PUFF THEIVES!" Bonnie screamed, waving her little arms with Dedenne in the air furiously before bringing them down to their sides with a small pout.

Shaggy and Scooby both wince once they saw the reaction they goth from the children and the Pokémon. Maybe they should have kept that secret to their graves. After all, you should never try to get in-between kids and their sweets.

Before they could continue the conversation any further, the moans ahead reminded them of their current situation. They all turn their heads with fear in their eyes to see Fred, Velma, and Daphne were closer than before. Thinking this to be the end, the friends all embraced each other, eyes close to await their awful fates.

Serena had kept her eyes squeezed shut, waiting to be dragged back towards the Puppet Master and be forced to listen to that horrible melody that's going to take away her free will. Remembering how Ash reacted to a force that made him do things against his will sent shivers down her spine, she didn't want Ash to suffer through that again. Before Serena could continue her thoughts, a soft, sweet, melody pierce through her ears, making her open her eyes in surprise.

She remembered where she heard that melody before, heck, she was the one who gave him the idea in the first place. Looking up, Serena is meet with Ash's scrunch up face and his eyes squeeze shut as he hums a melody to keep himself calm. She remembered how she told Ash that if his nightmares are getting too much for him, he should try music to calm him down. Seeing him do this right now made her heart ache.

However, the other thing she suddenly notice is that the moaning had suddenly stop. Looking up in confusion, Serena could feel her eyes practically popping out of their sockets when she sees Fred, Velma, and Daphne frozen in place. As if Ash's humming is somehow hypnotizing them over the Puppet Master's music box.

 _"This is my fight song..."_ Serena whips her head back to Ash, only this time to find him singing instead of humming. _He must be so terrified right now._ Serena thought as she places a hand on his to give him comfort like how she did back in Stan's Camp, letting him to continue his soft, yet melodic, singing. _"Take back my life song, prove I'm alright song... My power's turned on, starting right now I'll be strong... I'll play my fight song..."_

As Ash continued to sing, they all failed to notice that the eyes of Fred, Daphne, and Velma have suddenly lost the glazed looks in their eyes before they all suddenly shook their heads. They're free.

"Ugh... What happened?" Daphne asked softly while rubbing her head. Hearing her voice made the cowering friends peek their eyes open, even Ash stopped his singing to look to see if what they're seeing is true.

"Last thing I remember, we were in jail.." Freddie suddenly winces when he felt a sore spot on his head. "And why does my head feel like I got hit by a brick wall?" Ash subconsciously winced, already knowing why Freddie's head is sore.

However, it finally sunk into the friends once they realized that the rest of Mystery Inc. have been freed from the hypnosis somehow, but Serena had a strange feeling that she knew what cause this but decided to keep quiet since she's never Shaggy and Scooby look so happy to see their other friends.

"Fred! Velma! Daphne!" Shaggy shouted, looking completely excited as he and Scooby both let go of the kids and make their way over to their friends.

"You're rack!" Scooby said excitedly, getting up on his hind legs and began to lick the three of them.

"Down, Scooby..." Velma said as she gently pushes the Great Dane down before looking back up at Shaggy. "What happened? How did we get out here?"

Before Shaggy could say anything, moans suddenly cut in, making them all pale as they look over to see more hypnotized people coming right towards them. "Like, I'll tell you later!" Shaggy shouts as he and the rest of his friends begin to back up to join the kids' sides at the wall. "If we even have a later!"

"Anyone need a lift?" A familiar voice suddenly asked through the moans of the hypnotized citizens. Next thing they knew, Clemont had to suddenly move out of the way when a ladder almost hit him when it reached the ground. Looking up, smiles are quickly drawn on their faces when they see Taku up on the rooftops, holding the ladder that's their escape route.

"Uncle Taku!" Ash cried before he and his friends begin to climb the ladder. After them, the members of Mystery Inc. quickly follow in hopes to get away from the mob as fast as possible. Once they all reach the rooftop, Taku, Fred, and Shaggy use all of their strengths together to life the ladder off the ground so the mob can't use it to get to them.

With one last look of the hypnotized citizens still desperately trying to reach them, they all walk away to the place that's the only safe place left for them.

Prism Tower.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! So, me and Joltie are back with another chapter. As you can guess, this chapter's done by Joltie and while it still has the same dry humor that Joltie loves to do, the chapters grows serious later on. If any of you remember my last Scooby-Doo/Pokémon crossover story, you'll understand what I mean.**

 **Also, I want to mention something very important that's going to probably affect my future writing. In order for me to pass my school, I need to do community service for about 26 hours the whole year. Now, I don't know how long it will take me to reach up to 26 hours, but I will say me being in community service will somehow affect my writing schedule. So there's a possible chance I won't be uploading chapters or my new stories for a quite a while. I'm sorry for those who enjoy my story, but my education is very important to me, no matter how happy writing and seeing all of your responses makes me.**

 **That aside, enjoy this wonderful chapter by Joltie after these shoutouts!**

 **SHOUTOUTS-!**

 **Guest: Yeah, that's probably why I never heard of it. Don't worry, they will.**

 **Omarnosian10: Haha, I think Lumiose City's alleyways are more complicated than that. Don't forget, Taku went into a different than the others. :)**

 **Satoshi-Greninja: Oh, I don't know. I might do something like that in the future. If you really do want to see Scrappy in a Scooby-Doo/Pokémon crossover, check out Steel Heart Alchemist's story _Trainer's Island Cure_.**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: What can I say? Shaggy and Scooby do _interesting_ things for food, but they do tend to feel guilty when the XY Gang is involve. :) Hahaha! Both me and Joltie imagine Clemont tone deaf because let's face it, can you really imagine him sing with that puberty voice from his English Voice-Actor? Oh man, if anybody knows what it's like to have a Dad sing like he's tone deaf, I feel you. Also, sorry about those mistakes. And yeah, since Rica Mastumoto (Ash's Japanese Voice-Actor) is a singer and sings so well, me and Joltie thought Ash can sing pretty well. Also, I think Sarah Natochenny mentioned she could sing somewhere. Again, I don't speak gibberish.**

 **R8: You're right, I can't reply to it. Although I'm very tempted to comment on it. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! You'll find out what frees people from the hypnosis later on. ;)**

 **Blaze: Yeah, I thought of that for a while and figured it will be extremely funny. At the end of the day, the XY Gang are still kids and you don't mess with kids when it comes to their deserts.**

 **Lightwing: Probably going to get an apology off-screen by Clemont.**

 **Darkwing: Yep. Wahoo! More trapping-moments from Fred!**

 **sunnyflight530: Yeah, that song was stuck in my head for a while and figured it fits Ash so well in that scene. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Everyone was sat huddle around the TV screen in Prism Tower, one of the few safe places in the entire city, watching as new reports flashed up about the robbery rampage which the police couldn't control. Officers had tried to regain order and restore peace but there were too many hypnotised people there that fought back against them. Many members of the police force ended up in hospital with their injuries, where other non-hypnotised people hung out until the siege was over.

"I wonder how Professor Sycamore is doing." Serena mumbled, her head resting on her hands and her elbows were resting on her thighs.

"I bet he'll be fine, Serena." Taku tried to reassure her, not even making the Kalosians ponder why he knew the professor, practically everyone did in the Kalos region anyway.

"I wonder why the hypnotised people are robbing banks." Everyone turned their heads to Ash, who was looking out of the large window which gave a good view of the trouble happening in the streets below. He stopped mid-stroke of Pikachu's head and looked back at the others. "I mean, why would a robot want money?"

"Hmm… I've been wondering about the same thing too." Velma admitted, pulling out her laptop and pulled up all recordings of the robberies. Everyone crowded around her to have a look at the information as well. "All the targets have been high end international banks."

"Well, one thing is for certain, the Puppet Master really likes the green." Daphne muttered, before looking around nervously. "If you get what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, money." Bonnie sighed and banged her head down on the table. "Great, a greedy robot. What a life I live in." She groaned sarcastically.

"So by using the music box, she manages to hypnotise those who hear it." Clemont was lost in thought, pacing around the room with a hand on his chin. "Then she gets them to steal from banks? Yeah, she defiantly lives up to her name."

"But why?" Velma asked herself, causing everyone else to think as well. "Why would a children's restaurant animatronic suddenly have a want for money? And where did she get that music box? And who exactly is she?"

"Well, if you want answers, then the Lumiose Museum will help." Taku suggested, handing over a leaflet to Velma that came from his trouser pocket. "They are holding a 40 Years of Fazbear's exhibit showcasing all of their animatronics from all aspects of the company. I bet the Puppet Master will be one of them."

It was instantly agreed that the museum was the place where the investigation would start.

* * *

Of course, getting to the museum was easier said than done. With the police officers dotted around the streets and the masses of hypnotised people wandering the roads, the entire trip took double the time it would have normally to make it from Prism Tower to the Lumiose Museum, which was actually normally a 30 minute walk away but, with constant hiding in alleyways, brief running spurts and moments of paranoia.

Reaching the entrance felt like they had won a race in the Olympics, or at least become the stealthiest person in the history of stealthiness, well the Mystery Inc. members at the very least. Fred and Taku worked together to push the door open, as it seemed to be rusty from misuse. Yeah, not being used for a couple of days seemed to do that to tourist attraction doors. Slowly, one by one, the group made it inside, noting how the lights and heating was still on as they got a burst of hot air as they walked in which warmed them up from the cold wind outside.

"Remember gang, stick together." Fred instructed, something that the other Mystery Inc. members would never think they would hear him say in the history of his life, after all, he was the one always splitting them up. However, that could have been aimed towards the children more than the collective group itself.

Instead of pictures hanging from the walls, the museum had cases, cases filled with statues of what looked to be like monsters. All different kinds of creatures, humanoid and not, filled the rooms in creepy poses with facial expressions to match. Certain expressions from the continental based adults made the others realise that they had been familiarised with some of these statues.

"Hey, Scoob. Isn't that like, the Miner Forty-Niner?" Shaggy asked with a gulp, staring at the figure in front of him.

"Reah! And rhis is the Headless Snowman!" Scooby added, before taking a closer look, which scared him causing the pooch to run to Shaggy and jump up his shirt, head poking out of the shirt's collar as he shivered.

"Relax Scooby, it's just a statue." Velma placed her hands on her hips anyway. "But what are these monsters doing here?"

"I thought we'd exposed them as just costumed fakes." Daphne added, scratching her head gently in confusion.

"Well that's because those be great legends 'round these parts." A creepy old voice answered with a cracking tone. Shaggy and Scooby yelled, running away from the voice's direction, deciding to hide behind Ash for the time being, who just gave them a comforting look. A man walked out from the darkness, his balding head hidden by a blue cap that matched the colour of his overalls. A red, long sleeved top was visible underneath it, his brown boots peeking out from under the denim fabric. "Even though our governments can't see eye ta eye, we still respect the legends your side upholds."

"And, you are?" Freddie asked with an upturned eyebrow.

"Joseph Briggs. Janitor of this fine establishment." The man greeted, looking over each and every person before his gaze rested on Taku. "Mr. Ketchum? What is a man like you doing in a place like this with all that's going on outside?"

"Let's just say we're investigating into the robot behind all of this." The millionaire responded politely. "I found a pamphlet that showcased an exhibit behind the Fazbear Company's animatronics and we believe it could hold some answers."

"Well, ya came to the right place." Joe said with a crooked smile. "If ya'll like to follow me, if you'd be so kind." He turned and began to walk towards the stairs, with his guests giving each other confused looks and, with a round of shrugging shoulders, they followed him towards the exhibit.

"Here we are." They stopped near the entrance way of a large exhibit room, which was covered by two purple curtains with white stars covering the fabric. "The Fazbear exhibit."

"Everyone ready?" Fred asked, getting a response of nods from everybody, except one certain child. Serena turned around to see Ash staring at a case right next to the entrance, his body shaking uncontrollably as his eyes started to glaze over.

"Ash… are you okay?" She inquired with concern, walking over to him only to have the figure in the case gain her attention, a figure she knew all too well. The Spectre, the figure that had caused so much pain and sadness back at _Stan's Deadpan Camp_ , was right in front of her, arm outstretched in an effort to grab the nearest being to it, red eyes glowing brought back horrific memories. Subconsciously her hand gingerly touched her neck, remembering the Spectre using her crush's body to try and kill her, strangle her out of all the air in her lungs. However, she realised that someone was traumatised more by that monster than she was and he was standing right next to her. Before she could say anything else, he backed away, skin turning pale before he fled back down the stairs, his sobs following him down.

For a while, no one did or said anything, until Joe spoke up. "So that spectre there be real scary, huh?"

"More than you think." Clemont muttered vaguely, causing the janitor to frown slightly.

"Meh, if you would follow me." He shrugged it off, not noticing the glares he was getting from both the children and adults from this sensitive subject. Taku was about to follow his nephew until Bonnie, Clemont and Serena grabbed his jumper, all of them shaking their heads.

"Leave him be." Serena looked down at the ground sadly. "Talking to him about it makes it worse."

"Trust us; it's happened to us before." Bonnie added, deciding to hug Dedenne. Pikachu, who had wondering whether or not he should follow his trainer, decided that Ash needed the alone time to recover and jumped up onto Taku's shoulder, his ears lowered and expression sad. As the group followed Joe into the exhibit, Shaggy and Scooby decided to glare at the Spectre, even doing the 'Eyes on You' gesture with their fingers as they went through the curtain. Minutes later, they poked their heads out once more and did the gesture once again before disappearing through the curtain's folds.

* * *

Many, many animatronics faced them as they entered the main exhibit room, all of which seemed to have been inspired by Pokémon of various different kinds, some familiar and some not. They followed Joe until they stood in front of the display that was very familiar to them, the Puppet Master. However, under the plaque, her name seemed to be Marion Etta.

"This here be the one you seek." Joe seemed to hold unfathomable wisdom as he talked, some of which was being released now. "She was originally intended to be a horror attraction robot, ya see? Made for the teens and adults. That's why she looks da way she does. However, the company officials decided it be best that she was put up for children's entertainment. Stupid decision if ya ask me."

"I remember being told that." Taku muttered, all eyes turning to him. "Henry Fazbear's father made the decision before he took charge. Due to the scaring that she gave the children, the Marion Etta was only around for about three years, the shortest of any animatronic ever."

"Ye be right 'bout that." Joe continued, his grey eyes twinkling as he did so. "Her designer, ya see, some unnamed woman, went crazy over that decision and cause a lot of crazy stuff was happening in her life at the moment. She went insane and died in the asylum she was sent too. Rumour has it she haunts the animatronic she made to this very day…"

Shaggy and Scooby yelped before running towards a conveniently placed coffin, jumping into it and slamming the lid shut. Their shivering caused the entire case to shake from the force of their actions, which looked extremely unnerving if the group hadn't known who was in there.

"That's a… nice rumour." Daphne uttered nervously, her voice sounding forced as she spoke.

"Oh yeah, another spirit-run monster." Bonnie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Like we totally needed this right now."

"Anything else we need to know?" Velma inquired, ignoring what was going on around her.

"A curious one, ain't cha?" Joe rubbed the stubble on his chin before smiling. "Well, this one was designed to respond to a music box, a kiddie melody before scaring people. Apparently, the company higher ups thought giving her one to play kiddie tunes was a hint back to the original plans for her. However, instead of one tune, the music box the robot was given could play multiple different tunes, including modern ones that the children requested. The music box that creeper is using now ain't the real deal, let me tell ya. If it was, then it wouldn't just have a cranking handle, it would have buttons on it too."

"Thank you for your time, Joseph." Taku smiled at the man and did a traditional half bow, of which the janitor mirrored. "You have been a big help."

"Don't mention it." Joe grinned, revealing his crooked teeth once again. "It was nice seeing people again, after all this time. I hope you lot can solve this mystery up quickly, I'm sure Lumiose and the police would be grateful if you did."

As the adults turned to leave, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie, by extension Dedenne and Pikachu, who had jumped down from Taku's shoulder to sniff at the wooden casket, walked over to the coffin and raised the lid, with hopes to get the two scaredy-cats out of there. Once the lid was up, the two fully grown adults looked up at the children with a fear that can only be described as slightly humorous.

"Girls." Shaggy began, gaining Serena and Bonnie's attention immediately, causing Bonnie to stare at Clemont as to why he was not listening, he was classified as a girl so he should be listening right now, how rude. "Like, promise me that you'll never, _EVER_ , play with dolls again!"

"Reah!" Scooby nodded his head in agreement, causing the girls to chuckle at the request the two friends of theirs had made. They could see why Shaggy would have said that, the Puppet Master having left a sizeable impression on them and their views of articulate dolls. The two females looked at each other before Bonnie decided that she would be the one to respond to their prayers.

"Umm… can I come back to you on that one?" The two men freaked out and jumped out of the coffin, running after the other adults screaming their heads off, with Joe simply smirking as they left, trying to hide back a laugh.

"Bonnie!" Clemont glared down at his little sister. "Why did you say that?!"

"It got them out of there, didn't it?" She responded vaguely, shrugging her shoulders whilst not caring about the glare her older brother was giving her whilst her best female friend and the two Pokémon were rolling about on the floor with laughter, clutching their stomachs as if they were in pain as they did so. Well at least Bonnie had done what she had said her words did, she had got Scooby and Shaggy out of that coffin, however it wasn't in the most friendliest and kindest way possible.

* * *

"Hey, Ash… we're leaving now." Serena called out as the group made their way out of the museum. A part of her felt worried as no one had seen him yet. She sighed to herself, knowing that the place would bring up bad memories of the past experience. As they walked around, a sweet melodic voice entered her ears, causing her to stop walking.

 _"I tried hard to make you want me_  
 _But we're not supposed to be_  
 _And the truth will always haunt me_  
 _Even though it set me free"_

Everybody seemed to follow her notions, listening to the emotion, the pain that worked its way into the lyrics. However, the voice was very familiar, only having been heard for the first time ever only a few hours ago. No one spoke but they were all thinking the same thing, follow that voice.

 _"And my tears flow like the ocean_  
 _As they floated in the breeze_  
 _They were falling in slow motion_  
 _And they brought me to my knees"_

The gang started running, heading towards the secondary lobby for events like children's visits and school trips where people could sit and talk after walking around. That's where the singing was coming from and that's where they would find Ash, obviously.

 _"You're haunting me, taunting me all in my brain_  
 _Turn off the light and now all that remains_  
 _Fills me with doubt_  
 _And I'm shouting your name out loud_  
 _Why do you wanna put me through the pain?_  
 _I get the feeling I'll never escape_  
 _I can't hide away from the shame of you"_

The kids and the adults entered the room, noticing their friend or nephew standing with his back away from them, the backing track playing through the speaker system. They watched in awe as he poured his heart and soul into singing the lyrics. Relating to them in ways that even they couldn't.

 _"Tears on the ground, tears on my pillow_  
 _You won't bring me down_  
 _And I'll get over you_  
 _These tears will get me through_  
 _And I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you"_

Now they realised why he was singing this, it was a way to push himself into getting better, getting over the problems of the past, namely Peggy White, Stan and the Spectre, his father was also someone included on that list, as Taku noticed relating the lyrics to what his brother had put his nephew through back when the boy was four.

 _"When did you lose your emotion?_  
 _When did you become so cruel?_  
 _And if you want to cut me open_  
 _Says a thousand words 'bout you_  
 _And in time I know you'll leave me_  
 _Like a distant memory_  
 _I know love can be so easy_  
 _If I start by loving me, oh"_

Actions and body movements began working their way into the performance as Ash got lost in the music, singing from the bottom of his heart. All of his feelings were being shown for all too see and it was painful yet awe inspiring at the same time. Everyone listened in pure silence, not able to utter a word, totally spell bound by what they were hearing.

 _"You're haunting me, taunting me all in my brain_  
 _Turn off the light and now all that remains_  
 _Fills me with doubt_  
 _And I'm shouting your name out loud_  
 _Why do you wanna put me through the pain?_  
 _I get the feeling I'll never escape_  
 _I can't hide away from the shame of you"_

The second time around made the impact even more powerful, the heartfelt performance still continuing deep, digging holes into their brains as they engraved their feelings into their brains.

 _"Tears on the ground, tears on my pillow_  
 _You won't bring me down_  
 _And I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you"_

Even they were getting into the groove of the song, on the spot dancing along whilst gaining more knowledge behind its meaning and what it meant to the one who was singing it.

 _"Tears on the ground, rain at my window_  
 _The pain washes out_  
 _And I'll get over you_  
 _These tears will get me through_  
 _And I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _I'll get over you"_

A sudden change in tone and pitch made them realise something big was coming up, something that may just change their views yet again as they listened to a beautiful live performance that rarely could be seen due to auto tune and many performers who used it turning to rapping and spending too much time on dancing sections of the song.

 _"I don't need you to call me tonight_  
 _I don't need you to see if I'm alright_  
 _You left me, so leave me, I'm fine_  
 _I'll be here getting on with my life"_

Both the adults and children realised the first two lines of the bridge were talking about them, about how they were constantly making sure he was okay when a part of them knew that asking was bringing up the memories anyway. The later part was obviously talking about his father and how he was continuing without the need for him to be around.

 _"Tears on the ground, tears on my pillow_  
 _You won't bring me down_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _(Tears on the ground, rain at my window_  
 _The pain washes out)_  
 _I'll get over you_  
 _Tears on the ground, rain at my window_  
 _The pain washes out_  
 _And I'll get over you_  
 _Oh yeah, I'll get over you"_

A part of Serena wanted her to run over and hug her crush, telling him he was doing a great job in coping with everything that had happened in the past few months. However, she was stuck to the ground, listening to the song as it unfortunately came to an end.

 _"I'll get over..._  
 _I'll get over you"_

The track ended, causing a round of applause from those who were watching, making the raven haired trainer to turn around in shock.

"You guys…"

"Heard it all." Shaggy admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Like, you have a really great voice Ash."

"He's right!" Bonnie grinned, jumping up and down. "That was awesome! Like a pop star!" Everyone smiled as a deep crimson blush formed on Ash's face as he looked towards the ground shyly.

"You… mean it?" He asked before his uncle walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Of course we do. We kind of know how hard this must be for you but, at the same time, we don't. This song made us, me, realise how truly strong you are." Taku held his nephew out with both hands on his shoulders. "I am proud to call you my nephew, Ash."

The raven haired boy blushed deeper as tears of joy began forming in his eyes. "Everyone, thank you!"

Taku simply smiled as he pulled an arm around his nephew's shoulders. "Don't mention it. We'd better be heading back now."

"Like, yeah. I wouldn't wanna be here when old and creepy six legs shows up!" Shaggy shivered, Scooby nodding in agreement.

"Reah!"

"Actually, there is something I'd like to check out." Velma interrupted, turning towards the children. "You mentioned that you noticed something about finding clues in the Lumiose Music Hall?"

"We did." Clemont answered, recalling the blueprints they had found in the dressing room. "They had something to do with the music box the Puppet Master carries around."

"Well gang, looks like our next destination is the Lumiose Music Hall!" Fred grinned determinedly whilst pointing in the supposed direction the large building was, except he was pointing in the wrong direction. As the others began to head off, Shaggy turned to his best friend.

"Like, you'd think we wanted to bump into mechanical and creepy after this." He ended with a gulp, scared to think that they were heading back inside the music hall, the home of the animatronic that was making life miserable at the moment for many, many people.

"Rike, reah…" Scooby whimpered, leaving the two to notice the sizeable gap being formed between them at the others.

"LIKE, HEY! WAIT FOR US CHICKENS!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hello fellow readers! Sorry for this to come out so late on Saturday, but my computer *glares at said computer* suddenly updated by itself. So, it took me a while to finish this. But enough of that, I got the chapter! Good news on regarding my Community Service, I found on October 23rd that I can do for 6 hours, then I will be free to write whenever I want too (Unless if I have School Projects)! Also, Joltie has got something juicy for you guys in the next chapter! Until then, enjoy this chapter!**

 **SHOUTOUTS-!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Guest: Thanks! And what's new?**

 **Satoshi-Greninja: You have to wait a few chapters for me to answer that. *Holds back a few giggles.***

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: I KNOW, RIGHT? Well, technically the XY and Scooby Gang knew it was true. To the locals, they still think the Specter is myth because it probably wouldn't be easy to prove that a haunting phantom was a insane Chinese Emperor who had a lust for power, and it was pretty known in _Stan's Deadpan Camp_ for kidnapping boys, remember? That song is called _Tears_ by _Clean Bandit_. Joltie suggested that song, and I say that song fitted perfectly with Ash's current condition. If it makes you feel at better, that song is also stuck in my head even before I wrote that into the chapter. Thanks! Enjoy the chapter!**

 **R98: Um, you have to wait for the rest of the story for me to answer on regarding Team Rocket.**

 **Matt: Thanks, even though me and Joltie didn't notice the reference at first!**

 **Blaze: Yeah, you weren't the only one when you first read it. ;)**

 **Lightwing: They probably made their own costumes. The Pokémon World is pretty advanced, don't you think?**

 **Darkwing: Yep. Joltie picked that out for reasons that I'm not allow to tell you. But I agree, it is a beautiful song to get people back up again from tough times. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Getting to the Music Hall was like trying to get from the Prism Tower to the Lumiose Museum, the feeling of paranoia is always filling them with dread whenever they feel like a hypnotized citizen is about to pop up at them anywhere. You would think that since Lumiose City is their home, Clemont and Bonnie would feel comfortable. But they didn't. They have never felt more uncomfortable in their home, even when their father made his random personality-switches every now and then. Oh man, their father. How is he doing in all of this?

They didn't have time to ponder on that for long when Freddie suddenly gave them all the signal that the coast is clear. Quickly getting out of the alleyway that they were hiding in when a small group of hypnotized citizens came passing by just before they could the doors to the Music Hall. After one last check to make sure the hypnotized citizens are out of sight, they finally reach the doors that lead to the Music Hall.

"Okay, here we go." Fred says in hush tone in case anybody else hears him and they're done for. Grabbing the two handles with both hands, Freddie gave a mighty pull.

The door didn't even budge.

"What the-?" Freddie tried once again. Same results. "Wait, did that robot lock the Music Hall? I thought this was the last place she would expect us to go to!"

With a blank face, Shaggy walks up to the blonde. "Like, dude, it's push, not pull." Once that was said, the hippie pushes the door open with a small shoe. The doors instantly open into the building, giving them the chance to enter the place that can answer all of their questions.

"I knew that..." Freddie mumbles as everyone else begins to head inside the building, not before the older girls in the group gave him eye rolls. Sighing, Freddie walks after them, dejectedly.

The entrance hall is still as messing when Shaggy, Scooby, and the kids first arrived there. Guess the Puppet Master is just to busy trying to find them while robbing all the banks she can get.

"The Dressing Room's this way." Ash explains, going down the path he remembers he and his friends went to find clues before the Puppet Master found them. The thought sent shivers down the ten year-old's spine, but he ignored it and continue on leading everyone else to the dressing rooms.

As they walk, Shaggy and Scooby couldn't help but wrap their arms around each other as they dart their eyes around the darken hallway with their teeth-chattering like mad. They remember their last encounter with the Puppet Master in this place, and they didn't enjoy being reminded of the fear of being trapped in one place where the Puppet Master was about to get them. And just to be sure that doesn't happen again...

Velma couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard the sounds of rustling and teeth-chattering, knowing exactly who they are. When it didn't stop, she got fed-up and abruptly turns to the face the two cowards with a glare. "Will you two stop making that noise?!" The others stop walking when they heard the female genius's whisper/yell and are met with peculiar sight.

Somehow, Shaggy and Scooby have don their hockey-armor during their walk and are now armed with hockey-sticks. Due to their rapid shaking, the armor that they're wearing shakes as well, causing loud shuffling sounds. They didn't have to comment on that when Velma continues, "Do you want to let the Puppet Master know we're in here?"

"Well, like, sorry if I'm just being safe!" Shaggy shots back, thankfully whispering as well, before turning his head away with a huff.

"Reah!" Scooby agreed before doing the same thing his best friend did.

"Just put those things in the supply closet!" Velma snaps in a hush voice, pointing to the convening placed supply closet to the right of them. With that, the teenager turn and continues down the path that they're going down. The rest of the grownups soon follow after her, leaving the children alone with the two cowards as they put away their hockey equipment in the supply closet.

"Where did they even get that equipment from?" Clemont asked his friends, who just shrug helplessly in reply. Sometimes, they couldn't fully understand what goes on in Shaggy and Scooby's brains, although, there are times where they wonder if they even have brains. After the duo finished putting away the hockey equipment, they, along with the children, continue going down the path where the Dressing Rooms are.

After a few more minutes, something out of the corner of his eyes catches Fred's attention. Once he gets a good look at the thing, his eyes widen in amazement as he stops walking, catching the attention of everyone else. "Wow! Looking at this amazing Security Room!" Having the feeling what Freddie's talking about, the cowardly duo and children poke their heads outside the door as the rest of them walk into the security room with Freddie. "Oh man, you kids are _so_ lucky that you live in a society where everything is advanced!"

"Let's see what this security footage has in store for us." Velma begins, about to take a seat and look through the footage when Shaggy suddenly stops her.

"Like, don't bother..." The hippie spoke from the doorway, making everyone inside the room turn their attention towards the one outside the room. "There's nothing inside the footage. Like, whoever's behind all of this erased any evidence of them inside the Music Hall and showing how they controlled that weird Puppet-thing. Everything else is just, like, horrible things that I don't want to mention..." Shaggy lets out a small shudder once he remembers the Dancing Janitor.

"How did you know that, Shaggy?" Daphne asked with a quirk eyebrow.

"Where were in here before." Scooby answered, with Shaggy pointing a finger at the dog to agree with him.

"Yep! And we, like, almost got stuffed in a Freddy Fazbear Suit!" At this, Shaggy does his famous whimper. "I'm never playing Five Nights at Freddy's _ever_ again! Even with that new one coming out!"

"Again, we still don't what that means!" Bonnie voiced her thoughts, but was ignored by everyone else as they continue the conversation regarding the security room.

Freddie still looks around the room in interest. "So, what you're telling me is that this Security Room can see _everything_ inside the Musical Hall?" He asked, making sure what he's hearing is right.

"Not the restroom stalls, if you're wondering." Shaggy suddenly adds in. "But, like, yeah. Anyone can see this entire building if they wanted too."

"If that's the case, one of us should stay behind and look through the cameras." Velma suddenly speaks up, addressing to everyone that's around her. "If the Puppet Master does come looking for us in here, someone needs to be in here and monitor the area."

Before anybody else could speak, Shaggy and Scooby instantly shot their arms up as soon as Velma was finished with her sentence. "We'll do it!" They both shout in unison that would sound creepy to most people, but normal for their friends since they think those two have pretty much the same brain.

"I thought you two were afraid of this place?" Daphne questioned in shock as the two made their way into the Security Room.

"Like, that was because we made a mistake and let that creep of a clown into this place," Shaggy begins as he and Scooby begin to guide the grownups out the room. "But, like, now what we did wrong, we'll be okay!"

"We'll ree rou rater, rids!" Scooby calls out to the children, who are watching them with dumbfounded expressions at their sudden change of personality while the two cowards have finally guided the grownups out of the room.

"And, like, we still got your walkie-talkie-wrist-watch thingy you gave to use, Clemont. We'll call you if we see anything!" With that, Shaggy closes the door that leads into the security room.

There's a moment of silence before Bonnie speaks up, "Okay, that was weird. Even for Shaggy and Scooby..."

"Then again, this is Shaggy and Scooby we're talking." Daphne points out with a laugh. "Just knowing that they're about to get a job that _doesn't_ involve facing the monster, I think those two will always take that cake." At this, she laughs at her small pun.

* * *

After getting over Shaggy and Scooby's sudden personality disorder, the kids were able to lead the rest of the grownups to the dressing room. Right there on the desk where the children left it is the blueprints for the Puppet Master's Music Box. Although they found it strange for the Puppet Master just to leave something like that all alone in a open place for them to find it, they ignore it as Velma picks it up to examine it.

It took a few moments before Freddie decided to speak up. "So, did you find anything interesting about the music box?"

Velma quickly realized she's been staring so intently at the blueprints that she's failed to inform the others about what she uncovered. "Right, sorry." She then shows them the diagram. "Take a look at the way the sounds are placed. Normally when someone wants to create a sound into the music box, they put it into certain areas so they can match the songs they're making. But the way these notes are placed... I have to say someone placed the notes in those areas to create a sound that can hypnotized people."

Serena seems to take that into account. "Now that you mentioned that, the music from that box _did_ sound a little off when I first heard it."

"Yeah, I heard it too!" Ash speaks up.

Clemont frowns, not understanding what his friends are talking about. "I didn't hear anything..."

"That's because you're tone-death, big brother." Bonnie deadpanned with her hands on her hips. "Sad thing for us is that you can't even hear yourself sing, or otherwise you would know the pain me and our friends feel when you sing in the showers." This earns herself a heated glare from her brother.

"Hey, I can sing!"

"You can't sing to save your life, Clemont..."

"My singing's not _that_ bad!" The blonde then turn to his friends for help. "Right guys?"

However, the only responses he got are awkward glances before the two turned away to avoid eye contact with him. Ash began to whistle innocently as he pulls his cap over his eyes while Pikachu tries to distract itself with some of the costumes on the racks, Serena just cups her face with her hand so she doesn't have to look at Clemont. The young genius finds himself frowning at his friends' reactions, "Really, guys?"

* * *

Back at the Security Room, Shaggy and Scooby are peacefully lounging against the officer chairs as the watch the security cameras that show the hallways, which lead to the dressing rooms where their friends are at. It's been a while since they've seen any sign of the hypnotized citizens or the Puppet Master, and their anxiety gradually faded away. Now they're finally at peace as they monitor the halls of the Music Hall.

After letting out a small sigh with his hands behind his back, Shaggy addresses his faithful companion, "You know, Scooby, I take back what I said about security guards. They, like, have the best jobs ever! They get to sit around all day, watch television, and eat whenever they want too!"

"Reah!" The Great Dane agrees excitedly, while doing another spin on his chair.

"Like, maybe we should get jobs here at this Music Hall when we solve this mystery." Shaggy suggests. "That way we can see the kids and eat all the food we want! We still have to find a way to convince the officials to keep you around. Maybe we can, like, get Mr. Ketchum too-"

 _BANG!_

Shaggy and Scooby both jump out of their relaxed positions when they hear something being slammed open from the hallway outside this room. With nervous glances towards each other, they began to skim through the cameras, trying to find the source of that sound. A part of them is hoping it was just nothing and either Fred, Ash, Daphne, or Clemont's clumsiness happened again, but that hope went down the drain when they heard the familiar moans that's been plaguing them since this mystery started.

This makes them change the cameras rapidly, trying everything they can find the source in hopes that they're not too late. From the theater, to backstage, even to the restroom, they couldn't find what was the caused of the noises. Suddenly a thought seeps into their mind, making the screen change to the entrance of the Music Hall. As the screen pops up, Shaggy and Scooby both jump back with terrified screams once they realized what they're seeing.

Herds of hypnotized citizens came pouring into the Music Hall like water filling up an entire glass, the sight help bring back the feeling of dread that they haven't since their time at Stan's Camp. They were so focused on the screen that they momentarily forgotten about the moans that are charging towards them.

"ZOINKS!" Thinking quickly, Shaggy hurries towards the doors and quickly slams the button. At once, the doors slid shut, followed by loud _thuds_ from the citizens as they crashed right into the metal doors since they couldn't stop in time. Shaggy backs away from the doors when he begins to hear the large pounding from the doors and the glass from the window.

"Like, Scoob, don't forget the air vents!" Scooby quickly nods, sealing the air vents from the computer. There was no way they were going to make the same mistake again. They both sigh in relief when they heard the automatic sound that alerted them that the ventilation system has been sealed, however one thought struck them.

If the hypnotized citizens are here... Then the Puppet Master isn't so far behind...

Shaggy quickly turns his wrist-communicator on and frantically shouts at it. "Mayday, mayday! We're, like, busted! I repeat, we're busted! She found us! Get out of there!" However, the only response he got was loud static sound. They've been cut-offed from everyone else. There was no way for them to warn the others.

And to make matters worse, "Ruh, Raggy? Ridn't rou ray rhat realing the air rents rauses rallucinations rin Rive Rights rat Reddy's?"

"Like, I did say that, but that doesn't mean it's actually gonna-ZOINKS SPRINTRAP!" Shaggy turns around only to be face-to-face with the main antagonist of _Five Nights at Freddy's 3_. The hippie screams and jumps back into his chair, but when he takes a look back at where he saw the animatronic, it was nowhere to be found.

This is gonna be a _long_ day.

* * *

Clemont frowns when he hears static coming from his communicator. He knew that Shaggy turned it on and is trying to tell him something, but for some reason the communication system is going off and he can't figure out why. His tinkering manages to catch the attention of everyone else in the room.

"What's wrong, Clemont?" Ash asked, watching his blonde friend still tinkering with his communicator.

"Something's wrong with the connection on my communicator," he answers. "I think Shaggy and Scooby are trying to tell us something, but I think there's something blocking their connection to us."

Before anybody could say anything, screams from down the hallway caught their attention. They whip their heads towards the doors, wondering who would scream like that before a man and his dog came into mind.

"That's Shaggy and Scooby!" Daphne shouts, realizing that her friends could be in danger.

"Why on earth would they scream like that?" Taku asked.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out!" Freddie said determinedly as he makes his way towards the door. "The security room isn't that far away-GAH!" Just as the blonde opens the door, he's meet with familiar purple, cat-like eyes are staring down at him.

 _"GoInG sOmEwHeRe...?"_ The familiar, glitch-y voice asked. Everyone backs up as the animatronic makes her way into the room, her wide, creepy, clown-like smiles at their terrified faces, her music box in hand.

The Puppet Master has them trapped, again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Hey-Yo, everybody! Back with another chapter by Joltie, who is also the one who came up with this plot twist that's going to bring all of you to the edge of your seats! I feel very incline to tell you all what this plot twist is, but you'll find out when you read this chapter!**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Guest: Thanks! Uh-oh, what's going to happen now? Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Oh wow! Tell them I said congratulations! :)**

 **Steel: Thanks! Oh, I ALWAYS GET THOSE TWO MIXED UP! Dang it! *Clears Throat* Sorry you had to see that... Yeah, these guys luck are pretty bad, right? Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Blaze: Yeah, I've noticed sometimes Shaggy and Scooby do things out-of-their-usual-characters. Figure it would funny to see that again.**

 **Lightwing: Hahahah, oh boy. Enjoy the chapter...**

 **Darkwing: Well, there were pretty cut off from Continents, so they don't understand some of pop culture there.**

 **R98: Wow. Um, I'm sorry, but I don't think I will be able to do those crossovers. For one thing, I don't know some those fandoms, and I only do ones that I really know so I don't disappoint people. There's also the fact I have two other stories to do after this one. I'm really sorry. I do hope you enjoy this chapter, though.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

"Not this again!" Bonnie cried out, glaring at the old form of the Puppet Master blocking her way. "This happened last time we were here." She groaned before turning to her brother. "Do you have an invention you could use? I don't want Ash to hurt himself cause of her ugly mug." The Puppet Master roared at the eight year-old's words, causing the adults to shiver.

"Bonnie, are you sure saying stuff like that is okay?!" Velma screeched; stepping backwards as the robot changed forms in her pure rage against the girl.

"Yeah, whatever." The little girl yawned, wafting a hand in front of her face. Oh great, the situation was getting out of control and fast. "Oh and by the way, duck." Everyone followed Bonnie's instructions as the Puppet Master lunged at where they were once standing, crashing head first into a mirror which caused the robot to become dazed.

"And now we run!" Clemont said quickly as he grabbed his sister's hand and they began running, yet again. The children knew the head start Bonnie had given them wouldn't last too long, the one where she had received a kick in the head only lasted a few minutes which she easily regained with those long, three pairs of, legs that she owned.

"How did you know that would work?" Taku asked as they ran, Clemont surprisingly leading the way as he followed the recorded path to the sewer cover that he had mapped out the last time they had been chased.

"It seems she's just like Jessie…" Serena shivered slightly as she said the name, knowing that she might have just signed her death wish. "They hate being called ugly, old or by the word hag. Mug also seems to fit the list now." The millionaire had heard of Team Rocket from his nephew, and wasn't surprised by the fact that the female in the trio was extremely vain. He also noticed the Pikachu on his nephew's shoulder shuddering at the mention of her name.

They kept on running, following the children as they went through the many twists and turns. By now, Bonnie had removed the communicator from her slow brother's wrist and was leading the mixed group of children, adults and Pokémon that were running through the corridors, something that teachers would have berated them about. However, teachers were the last of their worries as the distorted cries of the Puppet Master caught up with them, telling the group scarily that she had recovered from that crash into the mirror. If one had decided to look around, one would have noticed the shards of reflective glass in her curls and the slight tears in the puffed sleeves of her blouse.

"She's gaining on us!" Daphne cried out, having turned her gaze behind her for a split second. Bonnie looked down at the wrist communicator, noticing that the sewer cover wasn't that far away.

"Hey, Ash?" She spoke up to her older friend, who turned his head and nodded. "The cover is just around the corner. Can you run over there and get the rug up? You are the fastest right now." Hope rose up inside as he gave her a determined smile.

"No problem." He increased his speed and ran on ahead, disappearing from sight until the others caught up. By then, the rug had been pushed to the side, showing the cover for all to see. Whilst four children could lift that thing up, two fully grown men wouldn't have a problem to get it lifted and up so that everyone can jump down. Serena jumped first with Ash following right behind her and Pikachu following after him. Clemont stepped into his fall with Daphne falling after him, Velma and Bonnie giving her a slight push after she began stuttering vain comments about her hair. Quickly, so that the men could get down before the robot arrived, Bonnie and Velma jumped, with Bonnie clutching onto her pouch protectively, allowing Fred and Taku to leap after them, closing the cover behind them.

The Puppet Master turned around the corner, hoping to see her future hypnosis victims, only to find… nothing. They had vanished into thin air. She screamed angrily, kicking a nearby table with an expensive vase on it that fell to the floor and smashed. Her hands went to her locks, pulling at them angrily with a force that should have ripped them out as she also stomped her six legs like a toddler. With those people around, her plans were being ruined and, if this continued, then her plan would fail. Once again she screamed, kicking at nothing, which sent a slight force of air across the ground in a curve, causing a small dropped photo to fly up with it. That caught her eye and she quickly grabbed it, staring at what was on it.

The millionaire man was on there, hugging Baseball head whilst both of them had huge smiles on their faces. The boy had his free hand up into a peace sign; the other was holding the older man's own. Of course, Ketchum would have dropped this whilst jumping down, even as a millionaire he was a bit careless. She turned over the photo and noticed some writing. _The most treasured thing in my life_ , she grinned even more.

Although she knew that Ketchum loved his nephew more than his money, she didn't know he loved the boy that much. And she knew how much money that business man owned, that along with all the stolen money from the banks would make her exceedingly rich. A plan began forming in her mind to get that money. She would get it and she easily knew how.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby were holed up inside the security office. As the time passed, they tried to hold back the incoming force of hypnotised human zombies by playing sounds through the speaker system to direct them away from the office, very similar to the _Five Nights at Freddy's 3_ game except this time there were multiple opponents and they had doors and air vents. Shut doors and closed air vents but doors and air vents none the less. However, the lack of air in the room was having some horrible side effects on the two.

They would hear noises that scared them like crawling in the vents and banging on the doors when there was nobody even in the vents or outside the room, those noises Shaggy had been playing was working a treat with the zombie humans. Also, they felt as if something was in the room with them, sometimes they believed there was as a animatronic from the FNAF games in front of them jump-scaring them, causing them to scream in fear and terror, only having to play the noises on the speaker system to keep the hypnotised people at bay.

With each passing moment, the hallucinations grew worse with more of them popping up everywhere. More animatronics began jump-scaring them and more noises rose up, ranging in length and volume. Also, they began seeing things, seeing people outside the windows, seeing horrible images of the kids being attacked by those hypnotised people and being dragged away whilst they sat in the room, unable to do anything. However, they continued, trying as hard of they could.

Deep inside, they knew that the kids, along with their friends and Mr. Ketchum, were in the sewers, they had watched them escape down the hole underneath the cover. They were fine right now, even if they had to deal with Daphne's complaining about getting her outfit and hair wet. Shaggy and Scooby gave each other nods, determination blazing in their eyes. They'd last through this for the kids; they'd keep those poor hypnotised people back for them so they can find what they are looking for. That was the friendship that both sides had for each other and they knew that the kids would do this for them if the roles were reversed. Now, all they had to do was hope that this didn't last until 6 AM.

* * *

"EWWWW!" All heads turned towards Daphne, who was looking down at her outfit and hair that was wet from her dip into the clean water supply tunnel of the sewers. "My hair!" She glared at Velma and Bonnie, both of whom were also soaked like everyone else. "You ruined it with this disgusting water!"

"Don't tell her but it's actually clean." Bonnie whispered to the glasses wearing woman beside her, who stifled a laugh behind her hand.

"Don't be like that Daph." Fred said, giving her a large toothy grin. "Your hair is always perfect."

"It is?" She questioned, blushing slightly before she regained her composure. "Of course it is! A little water never hurt anyone."

"That's not what you were saying a minute ago." Ash deadpanned, before feeling something pulling at his arm, he looked down to see Bonnie holding out a hand for a high five, one of which he happily accepted. Serena giggled whilst Clemont rolled his eyes, checking the wrist communicator, which had been handed back over to his loving care. Taku gave his nephew a slight glare, which was returned with Eevee eyes, his ultimate weakness whilst Fred was just blinking in confusion. What was going on here?

"Okay then, gang." He decided to speak up. "Maybe we should spilt up and look for clues."

"That wouldn't be a good idea." Taku disagreed, shaking his head. "There are too many hypnotised people out there, some of which aren't being distracted by Shaggy and Scooby. If they have made their way into the sewers, then splitting up is going to make it easier for them to attack us. Also, the rest of the sewer behind us is closed with filters and vents from a wall which covers the entire tunnel. The only way to go is towards the exit."

"I agree with Mr. Ketchum." Clemont said, everyone turning towards him as he tinkered with the wrist communicator. "When we fell down here last time, the only way out was left and I noticed something I think we should check out."

"Those steps that lead to nowhere, right?" Serena inquired, remembering the silver footsteps that were randomly placed on a wall, fairly recently mind you, that seemingly had no real purpose but to be there.

"Exactly." The inventor nodded, crossing his arms in thought. "I bet there is a hidden room or something there that someone doesn't want anyone else to see."

"Alright then." Velma stepped forward, adjusting her glasses whilst grinning. "Why don't you children show us where those steps are and we can see if we can investigate the area."

It didn't take long to reach the area, it wasn't too far from the cover hole and, immediately, the adults found it as suspicious. Four silver metal 'u' shaped band were protruding out of the wall, having recently being screwed into it. However, what was above the steps was the most suspicious part. The wall in a clear rectangular shape didn't match the bricks around it, as hard as whoever made it tried to make it seem that way. It was obviously hiding something big, something that wasn't supposed to be found. Without speaking, Velma walked forward, grabbing at the wall only to feel fabric in between her fingers, she pulled at it, only to meet resistance. So that wasn't the way to get it down. She decided to pull it to the side, like a curtain which surprisingly worked to reveal something shocking.

Behind the cloth was a room, a room full of electrical equipment, monitors and computers, all resting on a large table with a swivel chair tucked into it tidily. The wires for the electronics disappeared into the darkness up the wall with one of them leading to a lamp on the table's top. Clemont, along with Velma, climbed up the ladders, turning on the computers and light to see what on Earth was going on there. The others waited until the two scientific loving people found what they needed to and decided to report their findings.

"Apparently those screens are linked to the security footage." Velma said, having scanned the information to her phone whilst Clemont had done the same with a holographic device. "Whoever is using it has a total view of every part of the music hall, including the stage."

"Why?" Daphne asked; folding her arms whilst looking extremely confused about what was being said. "Why would someone do that? Couldn't they just use the security room for that?"

"No, this person doesn't want to be seen as getting to the security room means passing multiple cameras." Clemont replied, flicking through the floor plan of the hall. "This is a place where they can't be seen by anyone. Also, the security footage isn't just for viewing the place."

"So, what else is it for?" Bonnie inquired sceptically. "Watching random people creepily like those gamer men behind those screens everyday living in their mum's basement?" A few snickers arose from Bonnie's statement but Velma shook her head.

"No, not exactly. It's for this." She held up the remote, looking at it like it held all of the answers in the universe.

"A remote control?" Ash and Pikachu tipped their heads at the same time, freaking some of the older members of the group out.

"Yes, but it's not used to control the camera's, so there is only one thing left that it could be responsible for controlling and that is…"

"So this remote control is being used to control the Puppet Master." Fred concluded from Velma's explanation of what their discovery meant.

"Oh the shocking irony!" Bonnie snickered, causing Pikachu and Dedenne to burst out into fits of laughter, almost falling off their trainer's shoulder/out of their friend's bag.

"If that's the case, then the Puppet Master is simply just a robot with someone remotely telling it what to do." Serena began to worry with her line of thought. "Maybe a ghost really does haunt it, or if there is another remote then the animatronic can get us and there'll be nowhere to run!" Many of the people in the room shivered from her words, all in fact except Bonnie.

"Seriously, Serena?" She questioned with an unamused expression, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Me and my big mouth!" Serena groaned behind her hands, which were covering not just her mouth but her entire face that had turned a bright red. Due to everyone being distracted by the creepy thoughts Serena had just put into their heads, they didn't hear the clacking sound of limbs hitting the ground from walking. In fact, they didn't even see or hear anything until it was too late.

Out from the darkness, two arms burst forwards, grabbing at the back of Ash's jacket, before pulling him backwards. He let out a surprised yelp before he disappeared, Pikachu falling off of his shoulder in the process. The yelp quickly turned into a scream that got everyone's attention.

"PIKA PI!" Pikachu screeched, running into the darkness after his trainer, only to fly into Fred moments later, unconscious and covered in bruises. Quickly, Daphne and Velma shone their torches towards the darkness showing a scene that they wished they would never see.

The Puppet Master was holding the ten year-old in her arms, silently laughing at his pity struggles as he tried to get loose from her arms' iron grip. Her left arm was circled around his shoulders, her right arm wrapped around his waist. She looked up at the mixture of expressions that her sudden appearance had caused, the main emotions being anger, fear and bewilderment.

 _"TaKu KeTcHuM, tHiS pErFoRmAnCe Is FoR yOu."_ She grinned evilly looking down to her captive as she spoke. _"CoMe To ThE mUsIc HaLl ToMoRrOw NiGhT, oR eLsE yOu WiLl NeVeR sEe YoUr PrEcIoUs NePhEw AgAiN!"_

Before anyone could say or do anything, she turned as fast as her six legs could carry her and made a quick exit for the darkness to disappear in, the last cries of a desperate child screaming "HELP ME!" echoed through the tunnels.

Taku sunk to his knees, having just witnessed, no, become a bystander to the theft of the most precious and priceless item of his life. Not even any sum of money could ever be more valuable than Ash, not ever and now, he was gone and the millionaire had done nothing to stop it from happening. He punched at the ground, not caring that his knuckled were rubbed raw, trickles of blood seeping out of them onto the concrete. For once in his life, he had failed. He had failed at protecting the one thing he cared about the most.

Serena looked at everyone else's shocked expressions, however Fred's face was covered by Pikachu who had recently awoke and began clutching at his hair brawling with his feet digging into the blonde trapper's chin. Bonnie had decided that her brother would be a nice cushion to hug for comfort, which she got when he wrapped his arms around her. She felt her world begin to crumble, just like when the Spectre took her crush away from Stan's Deadpan Camp. Tears began to roll down her cheek, just like they had last time. When she looked into the darkness, all she saw was the mocking face of the robot looking back at her, laughing with evil intent.

Freddie, Daphne and Velma all gave each other suspicious looks, after Pikachu had been removed from his face and had been given to Serena for hugs of comfort; the threat was aimed at Taku meaning the kidnapping wasn't a coincidence. The Puppet Master knew the relation between the two males and, in a way, possibly also knew how close they were. Not many people in the world knew or believed that millionaires, and to that extent billionaires, could actually care about anything other than their money, probably due to TV satire and shows which shows that to the viewers. That must have meant that the Puppet Master, or whomever was controlling her, knew everything about their millionaire and had to be close to him. Oh no, this was like Peggy White all over again, at least back then she had never thought of using her boss' nephew against him, this person had. However, the event brought up a question for them which was going to be horrible to explain.

Who on Earth had the guts to tell Shaggy and Scooby about what had happened?


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hey everyone. Back with another chapter for this Scooby-Doo/Pokémon, and I can tell that Plot Twist really got all of you (Looking at you Steel for ruining the review page (;). Just so you know, that twist was Joltie's idea and I just went along with it. But hey, it work didn't it? *Does evil Markiplier laugh***

 **Anyway, everyone, I just got something I would like to share. I'm sure you all have heard about 2016 Clown Sightings across the United States. If you're wondering if I'm a believer in that stuff, then the answer is; I don't know what to believe. All of this could just be some sick prank or something serious, but I don't which one is true. And not knowing is really starting to terrified me. I don't know what to do, I'm constantly worrying for my father since he goes out the most than me or my mother. Look, I'm not saying this to cause more fear, but I just want people to know if anything were to happen.**

 **But, on a slightly brighter note, I am not going to let this Clown thing ruin my Halloween Spirit. So after posting this Chapter, I'm going to start working on a little something for all of you on DeviantArt. I won't say when I'm going on it, but I promise it will be posted this month. If any of you live in an area that has Clown Sightings, please be safe.**

 **Enjoy the Chapter.**

 **(P.S. Saw Markiplier's videos of Sister Location, AWESOME GAME!)**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Guest: Thanks! Yeah, Joltie seemed to like the idea of torturing Ash as much as I do. Well, I won't it'll _help_ with the Specter incident.**

 **R98: Yep. Guess the gang needs to save Ash again.**

 **Joshua Ketchum: I'm sure Joltie will appreciate that! :) Uh... I don't think does two would even have a chance, Ash is ten and Daphne is like a teenager/young adult. Age difference is one of the many things on why they shouldn't be together. But yeah, they do have similar running gags. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Steel: Hahahaha! Sorry, Steel, but you always have the best reactions! I left a few hints? Huh, I don't seem to remember them. Ha, yeah, Greedy people, or animatronics in this case, tend to act like toddlers when they don't get what they want. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Blaze: That's the whole point of a plot twist, my friend. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Lightwing: Oh, you don't even know what the Puppet Master is planning. ;)**

 **Darkwing: I can't answer to that. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

Everything feels like Heaven. For some reason, all those horrible zombie people have mysteriously disappeared from the building and have left them alone. Not only that, but those horrible animatronics that have been tormenting Shaggy for a while now have finally left. Now, they're all alone, in place where there a flowers everywhere. Clean, green grass that stretch across the fields for miles, like an endless road where they can keep on going as long as they want too. It's a perfect place to go horseback riding...

...on a gigantic hot dog with four legs.

"Wahoo!" Shaggy throws his hands in the air as he feels the rushing wind from the back of his head. "This is, like, the best thing ever! Right, Scooby?"

"Reah!" Cried the Great Dane from his position on the front of the Hot Dog, who is still frolicking in the path that it's following. It's beady legs skipping with every grease puddle it lands on. Making it only more juicy for Shaggy and Scooby's taste buds.

"And the best part of all of this..."

"We get to this rot rog!" Scooby finishes with a cheer. With wide-open mouths, the two bend down so they can take a bite...

...out of their two chairs that they're currently sitting. But that didn't matter to the as they continue to live their "Hot Dog" fantasy.

Apparently, the lack of oxygen have finally gotten to the two cowards and now they're delusional. Lucky for them, the hypnotized citizens have already left when their hallucinations began. Now they're taking large bites out of their chairs, their saliva spreading everywhere. This was the sight everyone found when they made their way from the sewers.

"Uh, Shaggy? Scooby?" The two cowards look up from their "meal" to see everyone standing in the doorway with jaw-dropped expressions. If they were to look closely, they would have noticed the children's faces are stained with dried-up tears. "What are you two doing?" Freddie asks slowly, unsure what to make of this situation. Shaggy and Scooby have done some weird stuff before, this takes the case.

"Oh! L-Like, hey kids!" The hippie greeted the children with a small wave, appearing to have not notice that the grownups are there as well. "Wanna a bite of this gigantic hot dog?"

"It's rull of ruice!" Scooby adds in before sinking his teeth back into the chair.

The children blinked their red eyes. "Guys, you do realized that you're both eating chairs, right?" Clemont asked awkwardly, unsure on how he should have worded that sentence.

Luckily, they seem to be worded right as the two eye's widen. The grassy landscape disappeared from their visions and now they realize they're still inside the Security Office, and the thing they were feasting wasn't, in fact, a giant hot dog. They froze for a few seconds to let their actions sink in, before they suddenly shrug and continue on with their meal. Despite it being a chair, it wasn't that bad.

Although, the same can't be said for the others as they all groaned in disgust at seeing the two continue eating the chairs. Velma then notice the computer screen and her eyes rolled in disbelief. "Well, at least we know why they're acting like this. They sealed the air vents."

The others did somewhat calm down from hearing. It would make sense that Shaggy and Scooby are only reacting from the lack of air in the room, causing them to hallucinate. Suddenly, as they continue to munch on the chairs, the two noticed that somebody was missing from their little group, not to mention Pikachu is being held in Serena's arms.

"Uh, guys? Where's Ash?"

At this, everyone froze. The question that they knew they have to answer, but at the same time dread when the question came from Shaggy and Scooby. The kids remember how Shaggy and Scooby act around the Specter when it was mentioned, and they didn't even want to imagine their reactions to this.

"Um..." Freddy decided to be the one to step up, rubbing his neck awkwardly while not bringing himself to look at his two friends in the eyes. "How can I put this without you two screaming? Guys... The Puppet Master got him..."

Silence then washed over them as Shaggy and Scooby process their blonde friend's words, everyone mentally braces themselves for the loud shouts that's going to ruin their eardrums forever. Dedenne even launched itself back into Bonnie's pouch.

Suddenly, the two burst into laughter.

"L-LIKE, THAT'S THE MOST FUNNIEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD!" Shaggy manages to gasps out in-between laughs. "L-LIKE, THE PUPPET MASTER KIDNAPPING ASH?! HA!"

"Y-YOU ALMOST GOT US THERE!" Scooby finishes as he and his best friend continue to laugh hysterically. This makes everyone wince, this is going to be a lot harder than they thought.

"K-Kids, can you, like, please ask Ash to come out wherever he's hiding?" Shaggy asked, still out of breath of his laughter. "Like, I really want to applaud him for actually agreeing with-" The cowards' laughter suddenly died down once they caught sight of the children's faces; they all had their eyes looking towards the ground, not even daring to look at the two in the eyes. Pikachu had its ears down, showing its downhearted mood. The fact that Serena already had a few tears running down her cheeks confirmed it all.

"No..." Shaggy whispered, he and Scooby standing up from the deformed chairs and walked over to the group. "Like, tell us it's not true! Tell us! There's, like, no way that bucket of bolts got him! K-Kids, come on!" But the children still refused to look at him, too absorbed into trying to back their own tears at the thought of their best friend kidnapped once again and that they couldn't do anything about it.

Reality finally sunk in. Scooby even began to do his little doggy whimpers.

"I'm really sorry, guys." Freddie begins, a deep look of regret in his eyes. "She caught us off-guard. We thought we lost her when we went into the sewer system, but she somehow found us and took the kid before we could do anything about it. I'm sorry-"

Freddie was suddenly caught off as Shaggy unexpectedly yanks his ascot with a ferocious tug, causing the blonde to stumble on his feet, luckily he was able to stop himself from falling to the floor. He looked back to Shaggy, wondering why he would suddenly do that to him, when he stop once he caught of the hippie's eyes. Inside those small eyes are the doorway to an unspeakable fury that is threatening to break through.

"LIKE, HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPPENED, DUDE?!" The hippie screamed, shaking the blonde back-and-forth by his ascot. "WE, LIKE, TRUSTED YOU TO LOOK AFTER HIM!" Suddenly Shaggy let go of the blonde as he fell to the ground with his beloved dog. "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM?! WHY?!"

"RIT ROULD RAVE REEN ME!" Scooby screamed as he broke into sobs. "Rit rould rave reen me..."

Seeing their two friends like this has cause new tears to form into the children's eyes before the girls broke into sobs while Clemont tries everything he can to hold his own back, but failing. Taku could feel his own eyes being filled-up with tears, his heart aching at seeing so many people caring for his nephew's well-being as well as blaming himself for letting this happened. The rest of Mystery Inc. could only watch the others with remorseful eyes, feeling slightly guilty for not getting the chance to know the boy as well as they did.

* * *

The Puppet Master grin as she watch her little puppets unload the van full of money bags and begin to load them into the small room where the rest of her riches are placed inside the security room of the Music Hall, where no one was able to find but her. So this what it was like to be a mastermind behind this wonderful scheme, the feeling is giving her a bubbling sensation that's making her all exciting.

"HEY! LET ME GO!"

Of course, there's always her little guest there to ruin her mood.

The Puppet Master's face turn into a frown as she continues to hear the sounds of struggling and a foot making contact with something else, followed by a few grunts. The animatronic turned her head almost owl-like to see Ash, his arms being hold-up by a couple of hypnotized citizens, using his free legs to kick whenever more hypnotized people who are coming his way on the small platform she build for him. For a boy his age and size, he's a lot stronger than he looks, which she should have probably suspected since he was the fastest runner.

With the sickening sounds of her spider-like legs clanging onto the floor, the Puppet Master made her way onto the small platform, those who were about to go to the platform themselves stopped when they saw their Master and move out of her way. The two citizens that are holding Ash back saw her and quickly went down to their knees, dragging the startled boy with them.

With a grunt, Ash looked up with a glare to see the Puppet Master, looking down at him in her normal form, looking at him like he's a broken toy that she's disappointed in. _"YoU kNoW, i ReMeMbEr YoU bEiNg MoRe QuIeTe BeFoRe WhEn YoU wErE iN a PeRiLoUs SiTuAtIoN. tHeN aGaIn, YoU aRe FuLl Of SuRpRiSeS, bAsEbAlL hEaD."_

Ash growled at the mention of that nickname, it still isn't funny or even clever. "You won't get away with this!"

The Puppet Master did her creepy wide once she heard that, her form flickering, causing Ash to sweat-dropped nervously. _"oH tHe CoNtRaY,_ _bAsEbAlL hEaD, i KnOw I wIlL. tHiS iS gOiNg To Be ThE greatest gRaNd PeRfoRmAnCe LuMiOsE cItY hAs EvEr SEeN!"_ She suddenly grasps the boy's chin by her long, bone-like fingers so he's looking into her cat-like eyes. _"aNd YoU'rE tHe MaIn StAr."_ Ash just turns his head away so he didn't have to look at her anymore, the fear that was once used back at Camp is resurfacing, but he did everything he could to hold it down. There was no way he's going to give this creepy old robot the satisfaction.

 _"TiE hIm_ _Up!"_ He snapped his head up only to see the Puppet Master walking off the platform as the two puppets holding him down suddenly made him stand up on his feet where he could see two more puppets coming towards him with rope in their hands, and it didn't take long for the gears in his brain to start working.

"NO!" Ash struggled with all of his might to get out of the zombies' grips, but they proved to be stronger than him as the two held him down as the other two begin to wrap the rope around him. With a fierce glare, he looked back at the retreating form of the Puppet Master. "You won't win, ya know! As soon as my friends get here, you're going to be sorry! You... You... YOU SORRY EXCUSE OF A SPIDER THAT GIVES OTHER CLOWNS, WHO ARE PROBABLY _WAY_ SCARIER THAN YOU, NIGHTMARES!"

The Puppet Master froze upon hearing that, even her little puppets have stopped at what they were doing to look at the boy in shock. Now Ash felt his confidence shatter, wondering he'd just sign his death already. However, the Puppet Master just raise her hand and snap her fingers. _"GaG hIm!"_

"What?! Hey-!" Ash's screams were suddenly muffled by a piece of white clothe being tied around of his mouth. He could only watch helplessly as the puppets bind him.

* * *

The next morning after the kidnapping, everyone dragged their feet back back to the hotel they were staying at, all too tired to speak. As soon as they got there, the children collapsed onto a couch where the girls begin to cry softly again. Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby have taken up residence at a nearby table. It was there that they're beginning to draw their plans to rescue Ash.

"...Then we'll drop that giant weight on her head!" Shaggy announced, showing Scooby picture of them running away with a poor drawing of Ash. Apparently Scooby is dressed as a chicken while Shaggy appears to cutting the rope off what appears to be holding the two thousand pound weight up. At the corner, it shows a very poor drawing of the Puppet Master about to be crushed by the weight above her.

Scooby looks at the drawing with a critical eye. "It's rood," he admits. "Rut row are we ronna ret her underneath it?"

At this, Shaggy's bright smile instantly drops into a small frown. "Like, good point, Scoob." He crumbled up the paper and throw it to the trash bin, only for it to bounce from the ground due to the trash bin already filled up with the last rejected ideas. "Maybe we can-"

"That's enough, Shaggy..." The hippie and his dog turn their heads to see Taku, sitting down on the couch, staring at nothing but thin air. "Look, I really appreciate that you and Scooby care for my nephew greatly, but we don't know what's happening to him. He could be hypnotized, tortured, or even seriously hurt by now! Ever since that time with Hotel, I promised myself I would do anything I can to keep him safe." At this, he scoffs at himself. "But I guess that didn't turn out well. Now Ash is traumatized and he's being held against his will. I'm sorry everyone, but I'm afraid whatever that animatronic wants with him, I'm going to meet her demands."

"WHAT?!" Everyone currently present all snap their heads towards the millionaire in complete bafflement. He's just giving up?

"Mr. Ketchum, you can't let the Puppet Master win!" Freddie protested.

"You don't even know what she wants anyway." Velma points out, with Daphne nodding her head.

"I don't care." Taku snaps, making the teenagers flinch. "My nephew suffered enough because of me. It's time I make this right. He deserves a better uncle than me anyway-"

 _SMACK!_

Everyone froze when Serena suddenly marched over to the millionaire, yanked on his jumper, and slapped him across the face. That scene reminded them how she snapped at Stan back at his camp, where her concern for Ash's well-being and her patience for the ex-conman has finally reached it's peak. The members of Mystery Inc. are beginning to wonder if she slaps people when she gets depressed while Bonnie and Clemont are gripping each other tightly in trepidation of what's to come. Pikachu and Dedenne even made a dive for Clemont's backpack to hide.

Meanwhile, Taku himself has froze as well. Although the stinging on his cheek is still there and hurting, Taku could feel everything going numb. His once guilty conscious has gone and left his mind. With barely any emotion on his face, Taku turn to face the honey-blonde girl, who is using her blue-eyes to glare holes right into his sockets.

Before he could say anything, he was cut-off by Serena.

"WILL YOU GET A HOLD OF YOURSELVES?!" She screamed, not only talking to Taku but indicating for everyone. "MY BEST FRIEND IS OUT THERE ALL ALONE WITH CREEPY CLOWN-ROBOT THING AND HERE WE ARE BLAMING OURSELVES! YOU TWO NEED TO STICK TO REALITY!" Shaggy and Scooby screamed when they see Serena's fiery glare is now on them and made a dive for the table. "YOU ALL NEED TO BE MORE CONSIDERATE ABOUT THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU!" Fred and the girls both cringe at the sight of the enrage ten year-old. "AND YOU NEED TO STOP BLAMING YOURSELF!" Serena turn her gaze back to the surprised millionaire. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY THAT FEELS GUILTY ABOUT ALL OF THIS, BUT DON'T BE ANOTHER PUPPET IN THAT CREEP'S SHOW! ASH WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO DO THAT!"

With that rant done, Serena stood back and took deep breathes in hopes to try to calm herself done. Although they knew she was done, the others still remained in their frozen positions. All of them are staring at her with wide eyes.

"Like, man, am I glad I'm not that animatronic right now." Shaggy said to Scooby, both of them still hiding underneath the table. Scooby nods his head, completely agreeing with his cowardly counterpart.

Taku was still staring at Serena with wide eyes, before he sigh. Everyone's attention is now turned towards him. "You're right, Serena." He then looks back at everyone else. "I'm sorry, everyone. I've been wallowing in self-pity that I forgot how crafty that animatronic is. She won't let him go that easily. Besides, Ash wouldn't want me to listen to her anyway." Taku looks back at Serena, who has calm down now. "Thank you, Serena. I can understand why Ash always look for you when he needs it."

Serena smiles gently at the older man, a hint of blush slowly spreading across her face. "It's no problem, Mr. Ketchum!" Seeing that she is now calm, the others have now relaxed from their tense positions.

"So, now that we got that out of the way," Freddie begins awkwardly, still feeling slightly warily around the honey-blonde girl. "I think it's time we set a trap for that old robot. And I just got the perfect net for-"

"No nets!" Bonnie screamed, throwing her hands over her ears. "We've heard enough nets in our lives!" This makes Freddie slump his shoulders, his mood clearly ruin.

"Maybe we can try locking her up in a cage?" Clemont suggested.

"No, that Puppet Master is way too smart for her own. I don't think we can just lead her into a cage without her suspecting something." Velma points.

Freddie's mood suddenly brightens up again. "How about a regular old fishing net when she least-"

"NO NETS!" The blonde jumped at the high-voice that little girl is able to produced.

Shaggy suddenly walked up to them while holding something behind his back. "Like, may I make a suggestion?" He shows the picture behind his back, which shows a cruelly-made drawing of the Puppet Master being chased by what appeared to be a giant wrecking ball.

"Uh, Shaggy? I don't see how we're gonna fit a gigantic wrecking ball inside the theatre without her noticing." Serena awkwardly pointed out, putting her hands behind her back.

Shaggy's face instantly turns into the frown as he crumbles the paper into a ball before throwing it away. "Like, back to the drawing boards, Scoob."

"Hey, I know! Why don't I use that bazooka from-?"

Everyone couldn't help but let their groans escape. They knew that Fred is going to keep suggesting it until they finally agreed to it when their patience has finally reached their peaks, but looking at it now, though, using nets are probably their only option they can use against the Puppet Master. So finally reaching her breaking point, Daphne snapped. "Alright! We'll use a net!"

Hearing this made Fred jump up into the air in excitement. "Yes! I'll go get the bazooka!" He quickly made his way out of the room, a gigantic grin plastered across his face.

"Just make sure you learn to point that thing in the right directions!" Bonnie called out, but the older blonde was already in the other room. Even from here, they can hear Freddy's giggles of excitement as he unloads the bazooka. They all shot each other cringed looks.

What have they done?


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Hey guys! So, pretty intense stuff in the last chapter. Figure that Ash getting kidnapped two *coughs*three*cough* times is enough affect them all in different ways. And I think I know who we all are looking at when we say Ash's kidnapping has made someone do dramatic reactions *cough*Serena*cough*. Which is why this wonderful and hilarious chapter was written by Joltie! I swear, when I first read this chapter, I couldn't stop laughing! Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Also, I got news, I've joined a club at School. Don't know if it's going to affect my writing or anything.**

 **SHOTOUTS!-**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! We hope this chapter is just as good!**

 **Steel (Guest): Um... *whistles innocently* Hey, don't look at me! It was Warner Brothers' idea to make Freddy have a net obsession! Hmm... A trap door, now that's an interesting idea! Kidding, me and Joltie already have everything planned out for the rescue scene. Little Cinnamon Roll? Why would you- Oh wait, never mind. Seriously, where are you getting that chainsaw?! Oh, sorry for those mistakes. Well, you know Serena, she'll never admit her feelings to anyone, even if there's already half the people in that room already know about it. If it makes you feel any better, it was Joltie's idea to bring the bazooka back. Enjoy!**

 **Guest: Yep, the bazooka net is back.**

 **R98: Yeah, Markiplier is a really a funny guy. I don't know why, but it's always so funny to see a grown-man screaming like a kid. I got jumpscared a few times when I wasn't prepared for it. Don't worry, this chapter everyone is gonna make sure Freddy is going to get that thing to work.**

 **Blaze: What can I say? Love makes us do crazy things.**

 **Lightwing: Were you expecting them too?**

 **Darkwing: You'll never know. But just in case... *Puts helmet on* I'm good!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

A new air of determination hung over the gang; practically all of them were focused and had one objective in mind. Trapping that horrible animatronic and saving Ash. Of course it was going to be harder to do than say but, they had a plan in place, with a horrific backup plan just in case that one failed. However, for the backup plan to be anything other than horrific, a certain trap/van lover needed to be taught how to hold a certain object the correct way before firing, which would stop him from catching his friends instead of catching the bad guys.

It had been hours since they began to teach but each attempt ended up in failure, even when they were holding it alongside him, they had no idea on how the weapon even ended up facing the wrong way themselves it was that baffling. Maybe the bazooka had been made to fail and, that way, it needed refurbishment and some minor tweaking before it would actually work properly. With that revelation out of the way, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie decided to head back to Prism Tower, in hopes of finding some of Clemont's equipment that would help them sort out that horrible thing which they have already had bad experiences with.

That left the adults alone, with Freddy wanting to get a net for his trap as soon as he could, jumping up and down like an excited toddler when he could and then pouting and stomping his foot when he was told he would have to wait a second. To keep the tantruming-adult happy, Daphne and Velma agreed to go with him to find a net, leaving Shaggy, Scooby and Taku behind to do whatever they wanted to, not that it mattered much.

The millionaire was still upset, still angry at himself for his nephew's abduction. His pride and joy was standing right next to him and he just let the Puppet Master have her way and take the boy away from him. Even after the morning's events, he still couldn't help but feel down about everything. This had never happened before, even back when Ash was younger. However, Taku thought a part of that was due to the fact he never really revealed anything about his family to the media or anyone, apart from those he trusted and as of recently, that number had become few and far between.

However, a hippie and his dog wasn't going to let Taku sulk around all day, wallowing in self-pity, they were going to drag his sorry butt outside and take him to a restaurant they believed he would like, if his food tastes were the same as his nephew's. They were angry about what had happened too, especially since they weren't there to do anything to help or prevent the situation. But, when they were down, angry or generally upset about things, they had only one thing they could turn to. Now, Shaggy and Scooby were simple guys, if they were upset, they ate, if they were happy, they ate, if they were angry… I think you get the picture now but, in other words, the perfect spot for them was a restaurant, one they managed to drag the millionaire to through the empty Lumiose streets.

* * *

The banging of Bonnie's heels on the table base as she swung her legs to and fro really began to get annoying for Clemont as he dug his way through a box of screws, searching for the giant ones which may or may not have fallen to the bottom due to their larger mass and weight compared to the other screws. A part of him wished he was more organised but his work space was smaller than he wanted it to be but the sunlight that came though the giant window heated up the metallic parts, causing them to burn his hands if he wasn't careful. All of his equipment had to be placed either side of the window, and in a place where it wouldn't block access to the work bench, which was a total pain.

"Bonnie, please can you stop that?" He asked with a sigh, slightly annoyed now more than anything as he brought his head out of the box.

"Well I'm sorry I'm so bored!" She pouted, continuing the action with even more force than before, creating louder more painful sounds. Serena looked up from where she was searching and shook her head at him with a saddened expression. Just saying anything seemed to make the situation even worse than before. He closed his eyes and sighed once again. Why did this have to happen to them, again?

It was bad enough with the Spectre because, after a while, they knew what was happening and could easily find ways to overcome the situation. Now, only Arceus knew what was happening to Ash. Did the Puppet Master plan on hypnotising him? Was he being hurt? Where was she keeping him until the meeting time? Questions like that flew through the inventor's head as he searched for the tools needed to sort out Fred's Net Bazooka.

Of course Clemont couldn't help but worry. He saw Serena and Ash as the brother and sister he never had, well with them being around his age and Bonnie being younger than him. And, because of that, he worried about them, like a brother would. Ash joked one day that he was like a friend of his from Kanto, called Brock, who treated his friends like additions to his large family, especially if they were sick or were injured, as Ash had found out many a time.

"Found it!" Serena's voice brought him out of his thoughts as she plunked a box full of large screws and pulleys onto the workbench's table top. The box had writing on the side which said was the content was.

"Looks like big brother didn't check the label." Bonnie grinned snidely at him, as he made a move to check the writing on his box. 'Small to Medium screws', well that explained why he couldn't find anything. However, he didn't react in the way that the girls thought he would.

"Is something wrong?" Serena asked; only to want to slap herself in the face. Of course something was wrong right now, everything.

"I'm just worried." Clemont admitted, sitting on the floor, curling up his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He sighed as he rested his chin on the top of his knees. "Worried about Ash."

"We all are." The performer knelt down in front of him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "But remember, the Puppet Master isn't like the Spectre, he's okay… I know it." A small smile formed on her face. "Knowing Ash, he'll be talking the ears off of her metallic head right now." Bonnie and Dedenne burst into laughter on the workbench whilst Clemont simply chuckled.

"That's our Ash." Bonnie grinned, swinging her legs still but not hitting anything at the moment, each leg doing the opposite to the other. "Yelling at villains and annoying them until the Miltank come home!" The three humans and one Pokémon began laughing again, their spirits lifted more than ever.

"We will rescue him." Clemont said finally, moments later with a determined expression. "Whether the trap will work or not, we will rescue him."

"Yeah, and imagine his face when we do." As soon as she had said that, for some reason, Bonnie nudged Serena in the arm who began blushing a crimson red. Ten points for whoever could answer what she was thinking about. She quickly pulled out a blue duffle bag, and opened the top.

"Just put what we need in there!" Serena turned her head away from the others, speaking quickly so they couldn't hear her change in pitch. "Then we can go!"

The siblings gave each other unamused looks with a roll of the eye. Serena was really hard at hiding her feelings, especially when it came to teasing her about it, just as Miette had shown them the many times they had met up. Following the other girl's orders just to make her feel better, both Clemont and Bonnie couldn't help but wonder, when on earth was she going to tell him how she felt?

* * *

Daphne Blake wondered why she even had a crush on Fred sometimes, considering how he was acting now. And how was he acting, one may ask. Well, the answer was simple, like a kid in the largest candy store in the world whilst having an infinite amount money amongst his persons. Yes, that bad. He was running about the net section of the Traps Galore store, which accommodated scientists who wanted to find humane ways of capturing a Pokémon for tests without using a Poke Ball, needless to say, this was where Team Rocket must have brought their nets from before they used the electro technology made ones that came happily in little black cubes.

"This one has a titanium alloy! Oh and this one is made of carbon fibre material! Golly gosh! And this one…" Freddie was in his own little world of nets and, possibly, vans. There was next to no way of getting him out of it. The two girls stood at the end of the nearest isle to where the man was; both of them with folded arms.

"We should have never brought him here." Daphne sighed, shaking her head before looking down at her right hand's nails.

"Agreed." Velma pulled out her phone and began pressing at the apps on it, trying to find one that would limit her boredom here. "Actually, it was Fred who had brought us here. I wonder how he knew about this place."

"I dunno and I'm not going to ask." The fashionista groaned, which was met with agreement from her female friend, both of whom didn't want a lecture on the ins and outs of Fred learning of this store's existence. It was bad enough they were there and Daphne normally liked shopping, shopping for clothes that is. Being in an empty trap store with Fred running around like a kid that was high on sugar wasn't the way she wanted to spend her day.

When they suddenly heard a worrying lack of noise, the girls looked up, seeing an extremely excited Fred in front of them, both arms covered by a large amount of nets. Velma pushed up her glasses and sighed.

"Even though there is no one here, you do know that we have to pay for those?" She asked him, only to realise that a normal answer wouldn't be acceptable in the blonde's eyes.

"Who cares?! We can get Mr. Ketchum to pay for it!" He grinned, practically jumping on the spot due to his wild emotions over his wide hall of nets. "It is his nephew's rescue mission that these are going to be used for!"

"And who's fault is the kidnapping again?" Daphne inquired, with Velma shrugging her shoulders for a response.

"No idea, but just leave him be. We won't get any sense out of him until he's building those things into a trap." She replied with a moan, turning back to her phone before cursing under her breath over a death on a game, wait… was that Flappy Bird? How behind on the times was Velma when it came to gaming/app trends?

"But…" Fred began rambling on about each of the nets and how they were both special and useful at the same time. With Velma swept up in her mobile game, Daphne was the only one left who could be forced into partially listening to the net lecture, with hopes that an essay wasn't due once it was over. At that moment in time, in the history of Daphne Blake, as far back as she could remember that is, she could never remember a time in which she had been as bored to tears as she was now.

* * *

Taku watched as Shaggy and Scooby strolled happily ahead of him, humming a tune that must have been stuck in their heads as the two led him to their favourite restaurant in Kalos, even though they had only been to Lumiose City and had only been here a few days. Apparently this trip was supposed to make him feel better as, according to them, food made everything better. Maybe that's why people chose to eat when they were upset or angry. That's probably how the phrase comfort food came into place.

Pikachu clung to his shoulder, in the same position that he would have been if he was on his trainer's shoulder. His ears drooped, tail hanging low, eyes lost that usual sparkle of energy that they usually had. If anyone was more affected by the millionaire by Ash's abduction then Pikachu would be that being. The two were as thick as thieves, brothers forever although the start of their journey hadn't been that way. The electric mouse showed some signs of life as Taku began stroking him under the chin, the third most loved place to be stroked after the head and the tail, a spot that was much adored.

"So, may I ask where we are headed?" Taku inquired to the cowardly members of Mystery Incorporated, who turned their heads back at him with a smile.

"Like, only to the greatest place in Lumiose, Restaurant Le Wow!" Shaggy began scratching his chin slightly. "Well, as far as, like, we can afford."

"Reah! We'll cook you up something rood!" Scooby nodded, his tail wagging at thought of amazing ingredients to make an amazing five course meal out of, those five courses he would eat himself, of course. Pikachu gave Taku a look and began whirling one of his paw's fingers around his head in a circle, causing the millionaire to begin laughing. Whilst, yes, Shaggy and Scooby were crazy, he could see why his nephew had taken a shine to them, and not just because they had slightly larger stomachs than he did.

It only took about ten minutes to get to the restaurant, especially since the empty roads and lack of cars weren't a problem for them, not like it would normally be on a normal day in Lumiose City. The clean windows and prestigious looks greeted them at the front of the restaurant; three stars covered the sign behind the restaurant's name.

"Like, right this way monsieur's." Shaggy bowed and lead Taku and Pikachu into the restaurant, sitting them down at a table and somehow, donning a waiter outfit, Scooby gone out back into the kitchen. "Vat Vould you, like, Vant from ze menu…" Pikachu pretended to be making a sensible choice before pointing to the ketchup bottle and showing three fingers.

"Ahh, trois ketchup bottles." The horrible French accent made Taku roll his eyes but play along with the act. "Et you, Monsieur Ketchum?"

"A Croque Madame, if you please." The millionaire chuckled; those two really did know how to cheer people up.

"Of course…" He bowed once again and rushed into the kitchen. Whilst they waited, Pikachu decided he wanted some comfort from his trainer's uncle and snuggled into the man's jumper, his scent was familiar, it smelt similar to Pika-Pi's own scent. It reassured him and told him everything was going to be okay, the stroke of fingers that went down his back also added to that feeling, that was until a duo of loud screams from the kitchen caught their attentions

Taku got up, ready to go and kick some behind if he needed too whilst Pikachu jumped over to another table to grab his ketchup bottle, just in case they needed to make a quick exit. Shaggy and Scooby suddenly stormed out of the kitchen, back in their normal appearances except for the chef's hat atop of the dog's head, eyes not visible.

"What's the matter… what's going on?" Taku asked before Shaggy grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the restaurant, not saying a word. Scooby grabbed Pikachu by the scruff of his neck with his teeth, allowing the yellow rodent to enjoy the condiment in his arms with a large grin.

"First they take my friend…" Shaggy finally spoke as they were on the streets, having let go of the older man's jumper. "… And now they take _MY FOOD_?!" The two burst into rage mode as they ran back to the hotel, screaming murder at the hypnotised people who raided the restaurant and took the food they were going to enjoy. Taku looked down at Pikachu, who just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his sweet, sweet ketchup. The millionaire just realised that moment that his nephew's starter really didn't care about anything, except maybe his trainer, when he had his hands on a bottle of ketchup.

* * *

Each of the three groups had extremely different emotional states as they reconvened at the hotel room later on that day. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie seemed relatively happy, and yet held a greater air of confidence about them. Fred was practically still on his trap enduced sugar rush with Daphne and Velma looking extremely tired, hair messy as well as clothes. Shaggy and Scooby were seething in anger; an aura of hatred surrounded them easily for all to see whilst Taku was confused and Pikachu was busy with his ketchup bottle.

"Come on gang! We need to set this all up!" Fred instructed giddily before skipping off towards the Music Hall, "We only have a few hours until Mr. Ketchum needs to meet the Puppet Master!" Daphne and Velma both rolled their eyes and followed after him, watching the blond like a hawk would their prey.

"THAT ROBOT WILL PAY… FOR KIDNAPPING ASH AND STEALING ALL THE FOOD!" Shaggy yelled as he followed the other Mystery Inc. members, Scooby growling alongside him, acting the most dog-like the Pokémon World humans had ever seen him. As the group of teens began to disappear, the children turned to the millionaire with shock and bewilderment on their faces.

"Umm, what's going on?" Clemont asked nobody in particular.

"They've gone insane, that's what." Bonnie answered him, looking down at Dedenne with a smile. "Right, Dedenne?" An affirmative nod along with squeaks of happiness told her that the dual electric and fairy type agreed.

"Well, Shaggy and Scooby are being fuelled by empty stomachs and rage." Taku replied, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head slightly. "The others? I can only guess… but it looks like it has something to do with Fred."

"When doesn't it?" Bonnie asked, causing the others to think about that statement. She had a point there.

"Alright, who's ready to take the Puppet Master down and save Ash?!" Serena grinned, pumping her fist into the air like she was punching the sky.

"YEAH!" Everyone agreed, getting into a circle and doing their usual hands in the middle and then flinging them upwards to the sky routine, a signature thing that their group did. However, this time Pikachu decided that his ketchup was more important and delicious for that. They stood back up and ran after the Mystery Incorporated members with renewed valour. The Puppet Master better watch out as they were coming to get her!


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: You all have been waiting for it, and now you got it! iT'S RESCUE TIME! Before you all suddenly asked, yes, I did updated this earlier than usual. That's because I finished this chapter early at school. THANK YOU FREETIME!**

 **Also, announcement regarding my personal life. I have found a good community service for me to graduate, but this thing is very serious. I have to take classes and things like that, so it might put a damper on my writing schedule. Luckily this story is almost over (WAAAAHHHH!), but I can't say the same for my other stories since I just started them while I was writing in the middle stages. But what the heck!**

 **Now, be prepare to face some feels and Shaggy-Scooby-Silliness for this chapter, RIGHT AFTER THE SHOTOUTS!**

 **SHOTOUTS-!**

 **Guest: Thanks!**

 **R98: Yep! I would just jump. It has to be pretty good to make me scream, though.**

 **Blaze: That's correct! Even I can't answer that question since that was Joltie's idea. Hope you enjoy the chapter!  
**

 **Lightwing: At this point, I don't know what to think about the Sun and Moon Anime anymore. I mean, I like the fact that they're continuing the series with something that's suitable and laughable for children (which many Pokemon fans failed to see). I even got use to the new animation, but it's receiving so many backlash that I'm almost at the point where I can't take it anymore. I'm tired of all the backlash, when are people just gonna grow-up?! *Clears throat* Sorry. I'll probably watch it whenever I have the chance.**

 **Darkwing: Yeah, he was serious and sometimes being the one who gets into funny situations. Yep, I understand that. I think they're trying to show that even the leaders can have a silly side.**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: There's a Flappy Bird addiction? ...Gonna back away slowly... AMOUR FOR THE WIN! Yeah, surprisingly obsessions are really fun to write! Great, now you made me hungry! Pikachu has a very interesting behavior around certain things... I think they went cuckoo even before they meet the XY Gang. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! That's okay, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Taku mentally prepared himself as he faced the doors of the Music Halls. The others had decided to enter the building another way by going through the sewer system (something that Daphne highly complained about) and promise that they will set up the trap as soon as the reach the theatre without having the Puppet Master aware of their presences. Despite all the reassurance he's been getting, Taku still couldn't help but feel anxious at thought of what could await him inside the Music Hall. Thoughts of Ash suddenly came rushing into his mind; what if Ash is already hypnotized and the Puppet Master is making him do some horrible things? What if the Puppet Master tortured him to the point his mind finally broke? What if-

"Like, dude!" Hearing the hushed voice of the familiar hippie in his ear made the millionaire jump out of his thoughts. "We're already inside the theater, and, like, we can't see you! What's taking you so long, man?"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Taku apologized quickly, before making his way inside the theater. "I'm going in."

"About time..." This time, he heard the tired voice of Bonnie as he makes his way through the dark hallway of the Music Hall.

Taku's mind didn't register anything else until he finally reaches the theater of the Music Hall. Apparently, all the stage lights are on, giving the Puppet Master's sick idea of this being a performance coming true. Unfortunately, he couldn't see Ash or the Puppet Master anywhere. Figuring that he needs to play the Puppet Master's game in order for things to work, Taku begins to make his way to the stage.

During his walk to the stage, Taku could see the children, Fred, Velma, and Daphne hiding behind the audience chairs, getting ready for the signal. He had no idea where Shaggy and Scooby are, but he could only figure they're waiting for the perfect moment to jump the Puppet Master if something goes wrong.

When Taku finally made his way up to the stage, he turn to face the audience seating like he's an actor about to do his performance. "Okay, I'm here!" He yells out, his voice echoing across the room so he was sure the Puppet Master could hear him. "Just like you wanted! Come out!"

Silence meet him.

Taku could feel himself growing impatient. "Look, if you're not going to come out then I'll just have to-"

 _"Oh, TrY tO lEaRn To Be A lItTle PaTiEnT, mR. kEtChUm."_ Taku whip his head up to see the Puppet Master, in her hideous form, using her spider-like legs to crawl down from the curtains. This made her look much more like a Spider this way. _"It'S nOt AlWaYs ThIs EaSy To LoOk ThE wAy I dO..."_ She pat her messy hair to emphasis her words.

However, Taku didn't pay attention to that. "Where's my nephew?"

 _"sTrAiGhT tO tHe PoInT, tHeN?"_ The animatronic asked with a grin as she finally reached the ground and made her way over to the millionaire. Although it was clear that she's way taller than him, Taku still kept his ground. _"i GuEsS yOu ReAlLy Do CaRe fOr YoUr NePhEw, WhIcH i FoUnD sUrPrIsInG tO bE hOneSt. AnD i'M nOt SaYiNg ThAt BeCaUsE oF tHe StErEoTyPe."_

Despite the situation at hand, Taku couldn't help but feel curious about what this old machine is talking about. He's well-aware of the stereotype that millionaires, and sometimes billionaires, are often accused of loving their money more than anything else. Heck, he's been often accused of that when he refused to give any information regarding his personal life.

As if reading his mind, the Puppet Master continued. _"I'm TaLkInG aBoUt YoUr BrOtHeR, mR. kEtChUm."_ Taku's eyes widen in shock. _"Oh, I kNoW aLl AbOuT yOuR bRoThEr. HoW yOuR pArEnTs AlWaYs FaVoReD hIm OvEr YoU, hOw He JuSt SuDdEnLy Up AnD lEfT hIs FaMiLy To RoT. oH, i CaN iMaGiNe HoW aNgRy YoU mUsT hAvE bEeN."_ Suddenly the Puppet Master's grin became wider, almost to the point that someone could rip the upper half of her head if they wanted too. _"aLtHoUgH, i BeT iT dIdN't MaTcH tHe BoY's ReAcTiOn,DiD iT? wHaT wAs It LiKe To TeLl ThAt FoUr YeAr-OlD bOy ThAt HiS fAtHeR lEfT aNd He'S nEvEr CoMiNg BaCk To HiM? tElL mE, dId He ThInK iT wAs HiS fAuLt ThAt HiS fAtHeR lEfT?"_

This whole time, Taku remained silent. Just staring at the animatronic with blank eyes. Finally after a few more seconds of agonizing silence, "I'll ask you one last time, where. Is. Ash?"

The Puppet Master's slumped, not enjoying that her game isn't working _that_ well. However, she raise her hand and snap her sharp fingers together. Sounds of gears cranking from above made Taku look up and left him jaw-dropped in horror.

Behind lower down by the rope that appeared to be coming out of the ceiling above is Ash, tied up from the same rope to keep his arm bind and a white clothe around his mouth, gagging him so that he doesn't make a sound. Ash watches the two with terrified eyes as the rope stops, leaving him hanging like a ragdoll on the stage, too far from the ground for him to fall safely.

"Ash..." The millionaire whispers. He could hear muffle sounds coming from Ash, assuming that the poor boy was trying to call out to him. However, the gag is preventing Taku from understanding what his nephew is saying.

 _"YeS, hE dIdN't UnDeRsToOd ThE MeAnInG oF sIlEnCe, So I tAuGhT hIm WhAt HaPpEnS wHeN nAuGhTy cHilDrEn DoN't BeHaVe."_ Momentarily, Taku had almost forgotten the Puppet Master was here with him. _"SuRpRiSiNgLy, He HaNdLeS cApTiViTy PrEtTy WeLl. BuT i DoUbT hE wOuLd CoNtInUe To PrOvE mE wRoNg ThE lOnGeR tHiS lAsTs."_

With fists clenching against his palms, Taku whip his head towards the animatronic with face of furry. "Let him go, you monster..."

The Puppet Master just waved a finger at him. _"Ah, Ah, Ah... YoU kNoW aS wElL aS i Do I wOn'T lEt hIm Go UnLeSs YoU mEeT mY deMaNdS."_

"Whatever you want, I'll get it for you! Just let my nephew go."

She grins evilly. _"i WaNt YoUr AcEsS cArD tO aLl ThE mOnEy ThAt YoU hAvE."_

"What?" Out of all the requests he would suspect from the Puppet Master, he didn't exactly expect that. "But, you already have so much from the Lumiose Banks."

 _"a RoBoT cAn OnLy GeT sOmEtHiNg WhEn A pErSoN gIvEs ThEm tHaT sOmEtHiNg."_ The animatronic shrugged, before her shrunken pupils narrow at the millionaire. _"TiMe Is RuNnInG oUt, KeTcHuM. cHoOsE; yOuR mOnEy, Or YoUr NePhEw'S lIfE. bEtTeR cHoOsE qUiCkLy, BeCaUsE hE's BeEn HaNgInG tHeRe AlL dAy, AnD i DoUbT tHaT rOpE cAn HaNg On FoR tHaT lOnG."_

Taku didn't even have to think because he already knew his decision. Above him, it looks like Ash also knew his decision as the boy's eyes widen with horror. He then began to struggle with all his might against the ropes, shouting muffled noises, hoping that his Uncle would understand and not go through the deal. Ash was well-aware of how Taku earned all of his money on his own, and there's no way he's going to let the his Uncle just give away something he worked so hard for.

However, Taku is just as stubborn as Ash.

Whispering a "I'm sorry..." to his nephew, Taku turn back to the Puppet Master with a expressionless face. "Okay, Marion Etta, you won..." Reaching into his pocket, Taku pulls out a silver card and hands it out to her. "Just let my nephew go."

The Puppet Master's grin became so wide that her face could have split in half, something that Taku wish he could see. He watch as the animatronic turns into her stable form and makes her way over to him. Before she could grab the card, Taku took this as his cue. "NOW!"

 _BOOM!_

It all happened so face that Ash didn't even get a chance to fully process it; one moment he sees his Uncle moving the card that he was about to give away to the Puppet Master away from her grasps, then the next thing he knew he hears the sound of the bazooka net that Freddy always have trouble with aiming the right way go off. His eyes slowly widen in shock as gigantic nets suddenly flies over the Puppet Master, trapping her underneath it as she falls to the ground. The Puppet Master yelps in surprise before she tries to remove the nets off her. She slumps down in annoyance once she realizes that she's immobilize.

How did Freddy finally got that thing to work?

"We got her!" Freddie cheers as he and the others reveal themselves from their hiding places behind the audience seats, the bazooka net slung over his shoulder proudly. While the girls were busy letting the fact sink in that the bazooka net finally worked, the children took this as a chance to look for their friend. Their eyes widen in horror when they seem him tied-up and being hang over the stage like a ragdoll, ready to drop to his death at any second.

"ASH!" The children quickly ran from their spots and begin to make their way towards the stage as fast as possible. However, they stop just right below the stairs when Shaggy and Scooby suddenly jump out from the curtains that they were hiding in. It wasn't just the two cowards' sudden appearance that stopped the kids. No, what really stopped them was the Hawaiian Warrior costumes that they found backstage and are currently wearing them right now. They even have the weird makeup, spears, and leaf-skirts in all.

"LIKE, PREPARE TO FACE SOME TOTALLY BRUTAL-!" Shaggy stops his rant when he and Scooby took notice of the immobilized Puppet Master underneath the pile of nets, her annoyance clearly shown. "Like, wait, that trap _actually_ worked?" Shaggy lowers the spear that was over his head while Scooby drops his spear to the ground from his mouth, dejectedly. "So, like, we spent all that time rehearsing our backup plan for nothing?!"

"Ro fair!" Scooby whimpered.

Hearing the sounds of a muffled voice calling out their names causes them to momentarily shake out of their down-casted state, Shaggy and Scooby both turn their heads up to where they believe the voice was coming from. Once they realized who was calling out to them, the people who are currently present on the ground had to cover their ears as Shaggy and Scooby let out their most loudest screams ever. Seeing the sight of one of their little buddies being hang by a rope like shark bait is enough to set them off.

"Like, don't worry little dude!" Shaggy shouts as he runs over to where he believes the rope is coming from, spear in hand, with Scooby follow straight after him after picking up his own spear in his mouth. "We'll save ya!"

The hypnotized citizen that was assigned to drop Ash to his death when Taku didn't meet his master's demands is waiting peacefully by the hand crank rope reel, ready to give out his master's orders. Only, he didn't expect to get two spears pointed dangerously close to his face.

"Like, if you know what's good for you, you get out of here..." Shaggy says in the most threatening voice he could muster, which is actually pretty threatening. It only took Scooby's adding his growl for the "puppet" to get the message. He slowly steps awake from the hand crank with his hands up in a I-surrender position. Seeing that the puppet is listening, Shaggy yells out a grateful, "Thank you!"

The Puppet Master growls, even hypnotized lackeys are just as bad as _paid_ lackeys.

The children and Pokémon gather around at the spot where Ash is being lowered by Shaggy and Scooby, their hands above their heads in case something goes wrong and they need to catch their friend. "Careful... Careful, Shaggy!" Clemont keeps warning the hippie as he cranks the reel slowly, but sometimes losing his grip and making Ash nearly dropped a few times. Their worries were finally ceased when Ash lands right on the ground and into their awaiting arms completely unharmed. "Got him!"

"Ash, are you okay?" Serena asks worriedly as she removes the gag around his mouth while the two siblings begin to work on the ropes.

Ash just barely nods his head but when he was finally released from the ropes, he quickly pulled his three best friends into the biggest hug he could give. It didn't take long for the four children to break into a sobbing mess, all so relieved to see each other again. Meanwhile, a certain Electric mouse began to runs as fast as it's little legs could carry it, before jumping towards them with a loud "PIKA-PI!"

"PIKACHU!" Ash held out a free arm and catches Pikachu in it before giving it a big hug, his other arm still hugging his human friends. "Oh man, I'm so happy to see you!"

"LIKE, HUG ATTACK!"

"RUG ATTACK!"

Was what the children heard before a pair of arms suddenly wrap around all of them and lifting their feet off the ground. Seeing this wonderful reunion right before their eyes made Shaggy and Scooby unable to contain their emotions any longer and made a beeline towards the kids (while somehow returning back to their normal clothes, or removing the costume in Scooby's case) and wrap them all in the biggest hug they could ever give them.

"Like, you're okay, little dude!" Shaggy says while, literally, crying tears of joy. Scooby even went far to lick the ten year-old's face over and over again.

Ash laughs, ignoring the saliva that's getting all over his face and the upper-half of his clothing, giving the Great Dane a pat on the head. "I'm happy to see you guys, too!"

"And will you _please_ stop squishing all of us at the same time!" Bonnie suddenly cries out. In the midst of giving the kids their hug, they actually ended up squeezing them together. While Ash didn't seem to mind it since he's back with his friends, Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont are clearly shown to be uncomfortable with the hug. Well, it's actually Bonnie being annoyed by it while the other two are looking like they're having trouble breathing.

"Oh, sorry." Shaggy says once he see's their faces and gently sets them down on the ground, with Serena and Clemont taking deep breaths to get all the air back into their lungs.

"Ash!" Said boy turns his head around to see his Uncle running straight towards him, a look of pure relief and happiness on his face.

"Uncle Taku!" Ash quickly runs out of his friends' arms to meet his Uncle halfway before the two Ketchums collapsed against each other in the most gigantic hug they could ever give each other. Ash buries his face into his Uncle's jumper, tears already flowing. "Y-You... You almost-!"

"Ash, I promised myself that I would never leave alone," Taku says, his grip tightening when he begins to feel his nephew's tears staining his jumper. "And I intend to keep that promise for as long as I live."

Despite the never-ending tears that are flowing down his eyes, Ash couldn't help but smile as he relaxes against his Uncle, feeling all the love he's receiving. He didn't care that he never had a father in his life, he has an Uncle who stayed no matter how busy he was, and that's good enough for him.

The others watch the scene before them with tear-filled eyes. Freddy begins to rub away the stinking he's beginning to feel. "I promise myself I wouldn't cry..."

The Puppet Master, however was not moved by the scene. In fact, she's completely furious, how _dare_ these people come in and ruin all of her plans?! She was so close to finally get everything that she wanted! With a growl, the Puppet Master shifts into her broken form and uses her sharp fingers and legs to rend the nets that are over her apart.

The sounds of shredding was able to snap everyone out of their joyful mood. Turning their heads back to the Puppet Master, their eyes widen while screaming in horror as they watch the giant animatronic tear the nets apart like they're pieces of paper. Freddy soon has tears dripping down from his eyes as he fell to his knees before the shredded pieces of nets, completely ignoring the freed Puppet Master. "MY BABIES!"

The Puppet Master clenches her metallic hands together as her cat-like eyes narrow at a certain raven-haired boy, who is gripping his Uncle tightly in fear. _"yOu LiTlLe BrAt!"_ With that, she charges straight at him with the speed of a cheetah.

Ash stood there, completely frozen. His fear took of control of his body, making him paralyzed to where he's standing. Thus, he's in the perfect place for the Puppet Master to attack him. At least, he would be if it weren't for Uncle suddenly turning him away from the charging animatronic. Now Taku is the one is the Puppet Master's aim.

"UNCLE TAKU!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Guys... Only two more chapters left after this one... *Makes Markiplier Noises***

 **Oh man, I'm super sad right now! I can't believe this story is almost over, and I love writing Shaggy and Scooby with the XY Gang! I mean, I know I have other stories to work on, like my Horror story and my Wicked story, but still!**

 **Wait... I suddenly feel happy. Why did I feel so happy?**

 **I know why... I saw the last episode of the _XY &Z _series.**

 **Oh, yes... You know what I'm talking about if you watched it.**

 ***SPOILER ALERT***

 **SERENA KISSED ASH! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D**

 **AMOURSHIPPING IS OFFICIALLY CANON, BABY!**

 **YES!**

 **TAKE THAT ALL YOU HATERS! AMOURSHIPPING HAS FILLED THE HOLE THAT ALL OF YOU HAVE LEFT WHEN YOU KEPT COMPLAINING POKEMON WAS RUINED WHEN ASH DIDN'T WIN THE LEAGUE!**

 **HA!**

 ***END OF SPOILER ALERT***

 **Ahem... I'm done now. So, with that said, I feel very happy of how far this Crossover has gone. And when I'm done with this, I'm moving onto my Horror Story because now I can have full confidence on writing the Amourshipping scenes.**

 **I have never felt so happy for romance in my entire life.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

 **SHOTOUTS-!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! Don't worry, everything is going to be fine.**

 **R99: Sorry, I'm just a sucker for suspense!**

 **Guest: Don't worry, there's only two more chapters left! :)**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: Wow, I guess Ash's OC uncle is really starting to grow on you, huh? Hey, we love cliffhangers and suspense, me especially! Don't worry though, Joltie kind of understands your pain because I myself leave her in suspense sometimes. ;) Yeah, Ash is safe(ish) for now. You do realize that this is Freddy we're talking about, right? Yeah, me and Joltie thought it would be okay to catch you guys off-guard. Um... That "Plan B" wouldn't have anything to with Shaggy and Scooby's Plan B, would it? Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Blaze: Uh, why would you assume she has Taku?**

 **Lightwing: Yeah, it was bound to happen, right? Seriously, why is everyone thinking the Puppet Master has Taku when I'm done to two more chapters?**

 **Darkwing: Yeah, me and Joltie thought we would give a little break before things went wrong. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

"UNCLE TAKU!" Everyone watched as the clawed hand of the Puppet Master ripped through the jumper the millionaire was wearing, his face contorted into a grimace as blood began to run from his arm. He smiled to himself, however. At least Ash was safe now, he'd protected him and that was all that mattered. However, the fight wasn't over yet.

The Puppet Master crawled backwards, pulling out her music box. _"ThIs IsN't OvEr YeT!"_ She smirked and began winding the thing, its cranks counted down their doom. Even though all hope seemed lost, deep inside Serena knew that there was something that could save them, if only she could work out what it was… oh! Of course! She remembered back to the last time they were cornered by hypnotised people and Ash's singing seemed to bring them out of it. A part of her hoped, prayed, that the same trick could work on the music box itself.

"Ash! You have to sing, now!" She yelled out to her crush, who gave her a look of pure disbelief.

"Seriously, right now?!" He asked, practically shouting back with the others looking at them.

"YES! NOW! OR ELSE WE'LL BECOME ZOMBIES FOR THAT OLD HAG!" Serena screeched, causing the Puppet Master to crank the handle faster and harder than before, reducing the time they had left.

"Whatever you say…" He mumbled, looking completely unamused with her answer but followed through anyway. The melody of a familiar cartoon song "Stronger than You" bounced off the walls of the theatre as the Puppet Master unleashed her lullaby. At first, nothing seemed to be happening; that was until a few moments later when the two sets of sound waves began to take effect.

They were crushing against each other, forming visible barriers that were powered by the musical melodies of contraption and human vocal chords. The lullaby had a dark, ghostly purple barrier with swirls of pink which hinted a psychic background. However, the chords made a pure golden barrier, one that seemed to be easily pushing back the opponent with determination. During this, everyone got to hear the music box's melody in full, some noticing an unusual sharp or flat hidden amongst the notes of the lullaby, notes that shouldn't be there naturally meaning they must be the ones causing the hypnosis.

As the battle between the sound waves continued, the Puppet Master realised she was losing, and fast. Soon her music box would be overpowered and she'd be blown back with it from the sheer power of that brat's voice. There was only one thing she could do now, cause a distraction. She moved with the box in hand, the humans watching her curiously and with a hint of confusion on their bewildered faces. She simply smirked as she cut the ropes that held up the giant red curtains, causing them to fall on the humans as she made her escape.

"Is everyone okay?" Fred asked as he finally managed to free himself. Daphne and Velma appeared up next to him and nodded. Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, their Pokémon and Taku simply smiled slightly.

"NOOO!" Shaggy cried, hugging Scooby, making everyone turn their attention to the two of them. "Like, that robot got away again! Even after, like, we tried so hard to rescue him…"

"Umm, Shaggy?" The two turned their heads to see Ash sitting right beside them. "I'm right here." Shaggy instantly let go of Scooby and crushed the ten year-old into an overprotective hug. "You're… choking… me!"

"You're okay, little dude!" Tears of joy rushed down the adult's face. "You're okay!"

"Shaggy, you're killing him." Velma deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Apologetically, Shaggy let go before everyone turned on both Serena and Ash.

"Okay, one… how did you know that was going to work and two…" Clemont asked cautiously before going full crazy mode. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE WAS THAT?! HOW DID SOUND WAVES GAIN A PHYSICAL FORM?! IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" Velma and most of the adults were as well, agreeing with the inventor's scientific knowledge.

"It may not." Serena agreed; sweat dropping due to the fact that Clemont was right in her private space, so she pushed him away with one hand. "But when people were hypnotised back when we were being chased, I noticed that Ash's singing, although amazing, seemed to be able to work against it, cancelling it out. I guess what we just saw was the physical embodiment of that fight, huh?" She looked at the ground, deep in thought. "So the lullaby has odd sharps and flats that match psychic energy that has been added to the box's design? I wonder what in Ash's voice caused that psychic energy to become disrupted."

"Umm, do I look like I care?" Bonnie asked, gaining stern looks from everyone else. "What? I'm just glad we're not zombies. If anything I bet the singing voice problem has something to do with that Pure One title, end of. What we should be focusing about is the weird pitches." Even though she was blunt about it, Bonnie did have a point. Without finding out what those weird notes meant, they would have no idea on how the hypnosis was effecting the people who heard it.

"Maybe a psychic type could have something to do with it…" Ash mused, only to notice the others were giving him creepy stares. "What?"

"ASH YOU GENIUS!" Clemont yelled out, hugging his male friend with all of his might, "I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW!"

"Ooo! Yaoi!" Bonnie grinned, her head resting on her hands. "Maybe that's why big brother doesn't want a lady keeper… because he doesn't swing that way."

"BONNIE!" Multiple voices yelled out, scolding the girl for even suggesting a thing like that. Serena was growling at her, eyes viciously sharp which caused the eight year-old to shiver where she sat. Never mention that around Serena when Ash is involved again.

"Where on Earth did you hear that?!" Clemont was literally red all over, embarrassed to high heaven with his little sister's suggestion.

"One of the callers, that guy with the spiky hair and a lab coat." She admitted truthfully, noticing Ash suddenly get extremely mad from being totally embarrassed.

"I am so using my bat on Gary when I get home…" He mumbled under his breath, voice dripping in pure rage.

"What was that?" Velma inquired, having heard something but, not real words. Once again, the raven haired trainer was embarrassed and waved his hands around randomly.

"Nothing! You heard nothing!" He said quickly before chuckling nervously. Oh boy, someone had almost heard him with his future plans of pain and punishment for ruining an innocent, yeah right, young girl's mind. Bonnie was sarcastic and sassy enough as it was…

"Okay, hold up." Fred began returning the conversation to a normal level for once. "What on Earth are you talking about with oddly pitched notes, that sounded fine to me."

"I can back the girls up." Taku nodded in agreement, eyes glazed over in thought. "And I'm sure Ash can too." He turned to his nephew. "Did you hear the pitch change in certain notes connecting to the tune?"

He was glad when Ash nodded back. "I was focusing on singing but I heard them, slight changes in the tone of the song with sharps and flats. It must have been added to the track, like a psychic move or something that causes the hypnosis."

"We can talk about this later." Daphne sighed and stood up, pulling the downed curtain off of her body. "But first, shouldn't we head back to the hotel room? It's been a long day and we all need our rest."

That was something that everyone could agree on.

* * *

Half an hour later and everyone was sat on the sofas in the lounge area of their hotel room, thinking about what on earth was going on with that music box, after some time of Shaggy making sure that Ash wasn't a fake or a robot sent to misplace their belief that they had succeeded in their rescue plans. Each of the three sofas had someone sitting on them for a discussion, Fred, Velma and Daphne taking the right one whilst Taku, Ash and Pikachu sat on the left, everyone else on the large, long sofa in between the two. Immediately talk turned to the future plans for what was going to happen next.

"So if what you kids were telling me was correct…" Velma began speaking her thoughts, trying to figure out how the music box was able to hypnotise everyone. "That certain Pokémon have psychic abilities which can take over the minds and cause those under their control to do their bidding."

"Exactly. Somehow the culprit behind this has managed to reproduce that ability into the lullaby, but it leaves behind a slight change in pitch." Clemont looked over to his friends, all of whom had been able to hear it yet everyone else couldn't. "Well, at least that's what you guys say."

"I have perfect pitch, as does Bonnie; she told me that your mother was an avid musician who had the ability." Serena said, before turning to face the two Ketchums, both of whom she was confused about. "However, I have no idea on how you two are able to hear it."

"Relative pitch." Taku responded. "It's almost exactly like perfect pitch but people can teach it to themselves through playing a musical instrument or having lessons to. I play the piano and was taught it in my educational days. When I found out Ash here could sing I paid for lessons when he was younger. That's how we could tell."

"I guess those lessons really did help out in the end." Ash muttered, absentmindedly stroking Pikachu's tail, which the electric type loved, making cute sounds with every stroke.

"Great, with the mystery behind the box solved, all we need to do it plan the trap." Fred rubbed his hands together with a large smile on his face. "I have the perfect net for this!"

Everyone stared at Fred in pure disbelief, another net? Seriously? And after the last ones had been ripped to shreds so easily. Bonnie was wondering whether to slap the blonde around the head to whack some sense into him or yell her little lungs out at him with the force of an adult woman. Fortunate for her, someone beat her to the match and acted first.

A loud, horrific noise echoed around the hotel room, one that made everyone clasp their hands over their ears to protect their hearing. It lasted for ten seconds, and in those ten seconds, Fred had broken down into a sobbing, shivering mess. It didn't take long to find out who had caused it as, standing with an emotionless expression, air horn in hand, was Ash.

"Now that you're listening to me..." He said with a sigh in the middle of his sentence, he grabbed Fred by the ascot and began shaking him. "How on _EARTH_ do you think another net is going to contain that THING?! By using another net you are letting my kidnapper, and the sole person who has hypnotised millions of poor innocent people get away with it! Get it into your head! NO MORE NETS!" He let Fred go reluctantly, noting the scared and awed faces of those looking at him. "What?"

"You, like, kept that thing?" Shaggy asked, pointing to the air horn that was now sitting upright on the table beside them.

"Yeah, just to keep Fred in check." Ash admitted, rubbing his cheek with a finger slightly. "It worked though didn't it?"

"I have way more respect for you than I used to." Daphne said suddenly, gaining looks of disbelief. "What? Freddie needs it sometimes!"

"Ditto!" Bonnie grinned evilly. "Now we can work together, terrorising the streets of Kalos with that air horn!"

"BONNIE!" Clemont yelled angrily, scolding his little sister.

"No terrorising, fine!" She pouted and crossed her arms. "But can Fred be the only exception?"

Serena sent a glare towards Clemont as she answered. "Of course, Bonnie. He can."

"Come on guys..." Fred was crying streams of tears from his eyes. "Pity the blonde..."

"NO!" Serena, Clemont and Bonnie shouted angrily, all of them being blonde to some degree, Serena having a honey hint to hers. They wouldn't pity the idiot due to a simple factor such as their hair colour, as they wouldn't if they had messed up.

"Come on guys…" Fred mumbled, pushing his two fingers together and looking extremely sheepish with a pout. "Just one more net, I'll make it a good 'un…" Before anyone could answer that question, no matter how angry their response would be, a large blue mallet struck down on his head, causing the trapper to fall to the floor in pain. Once again it seemed Ash was the one who was dealing out lessons in pain and punishment but, then again, who could blame him after what had recently happened? And, yet again, everyone looked at the raven-haired trainer in awe, Daphne even applauding him.

"I'll take back what I said; I have a lot more respect for you now." She grinned, getting a happy smile back from the boy.

"I know Mrs. Ketchum gave us weapons but, didn't Clemont get the mallet?" Serena asked, still confused as to why her best friend and crush had one. "Why do you have one?"

"A friend of mine gave it to me." Ash admitted, lightly tapping the side of it against his hand with total control. "It was really to keep a friend of mine in check due to his tendencies and I never had to use it, even though she trained me how to. However, I thought Fred could use a knock to the head to whack some sense into him." One by one, the others began applauding him, Shaggy, Scooby and the XY Gang even cheering at what he had done. Taku simply rolled his eyes and smiled. It seemed as though Ash had inherited more things from Delia than he had ever first imagined. Ash half-bowed at his now adoring public and walked back to his seat, choosing to keep the mallet out, just for safe keeping.

Fred got up from the floor, visibly paling when his eyes landed on the raven-haired boy and his mallet, even though the person in question was smiling ever so sweetly at him. Quickly, he returned to his own seat and kept silent for the rest to the talk.

"Okay, so how are we gonna catch that robot and find out who's behind it?" Daphne asked, raising a point. "I mean, all we're catching is a bunch of parts…"

"Not exactly." Taku stood up and walked to the window, after pulling the springlock out of his trouser pocket and placing it down on the coffee table for all to see. "The Puppet Master is a springlock animatronic. That means the mechanisms of the robot can be pressed against the body so that a human can fit in there. I bet whoever is controlling the suit has had enough of our interference and wants to deal with us personally."

"Like, what part of kidnap and hostage taking wasn't personal?!" A confused Shaggy almost yelled causing Bonnie, who was sitting next to him, to cover her ears.

"Geez, could you put a volume knob on that?" She mumbled to herself with Dedenne agreeing, due it its hypersensitive hearing.

"All this time, we've been fighting a robot, not the mastermind behind everything. They've been watching everything from afar, using the animatronic as a puppet for their own schemes, just like the hypnotised humans. They haven't been there to deal with anything." The millionaire explained his train of thought, pacing up and down in a straight line. "However, they are probably really angry right now and, you know what they say. If you want something done right, do it yourself."

"What we need now is a plan and a trap." Velma spoke up. Fred looked up at the word _trap_ , only to receive glares and the wavering threat of an angry boy and his mallet from across the room, causing him to sink back down.

"I have an idea." Serena said with her hand raised like she was trying to answer a question in a class at school. "Apparently the theatre is designed so it can do anything, musicals, orchestras, dance troupes. You name it. So the stage has some secret design features, one of them being a trapdoor!"

"So if we can coax the Puppet Master to fall through the trap door…" Clemont began, with his little sister deciding she would have the last say on this subject.

"We can nab 'er!" She jumped up, making a cute pose with Dedenne squeaking on her head.

"Exactly." Serena grinned, an evil glint sparkled in her normally gentle sky-blue eyes, this was revenge and she was going to be there to see it be carried through.

"For that to work, we need bait, a way to lure in the culprit and…" Fred had regained confidence but a certain someone raised their mallet up high. "NO NETS! A CAGE OR SOMETHING BUT NO NETS!"

"Glad to see someone's got the message." Bonnie grinned, swinging her legs.

"Alright, but then, who's gonna be the bait?" The children, Shaggy and Scooby retaliated in horror as they saw the other Mystery Inc.'s member's eyes land on Ash. Taku pulled his nephew into a protective hug putting his arm around the boy's shoulder and glowering at the three teens.

"No. No way!" He shouted. "I am not letting you put my nephew in danger again!"

"Out of everyone here, he is the perfect bait." Fred argued, not looking the subject of the conversation in the eye, just in case of mallet threats and air horns. "The Puppet Master never received the ransom due to our rescue attempt and somehow he has the ability to cancel out the hypnotic powers of the music box."

"Also, Shaggy and Scooby will be there to protect him." Daphne added quickly. "Right guys?"

"Reah?" Scooby looked confused for a moment before nodding extremely fast. "Oh Reah! Reah!"

"Like, of course we will." Shaggy sent a reassuring grin at the ten year-old. "We'll be like the best bodyguards you've ever had… and your first."

"Great! Now that's settled, we need to head over to the Music Hall and set up." Velma said getting up from her seat and heading off to leave.

"Glad that conversation's over." Fred muttered, only for the glares that he was receiving to tell him that the conversation was far from over and he was extremely outnumbered. For the first time ever, Fred feared that he had never obtained life insurance just for situations like these.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: I just realized something, I forgot to warn you guys about Joltie's humor in the last chapter. Sorry about that.** **It's a little note that I can't always control Joltie's crazy, British humor, so you guys would probably see something like you saw in the last chapters. Once again, sorry. I was just so caught up on that-**

 ***SPOILER ALERT***

 **SERENA KISSED ASH! 8D 8D 8D 8D**

 ***END OF SPOILER ALERT***

 **-I forgot to give you guys the warning. Sorry. Moving on from that, here we are, the reveal of the Puppet Master. Many of you have yet to figure out who the culprit is, which is way I intended to make this chapter both suspenseful and humorous for you guys. Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter, though! There's an epilogue written by Joltie coming up after this. But until then, enjoy this chapter!**

 **(P.S. I'm posting this chapter early because I'm posting the epilogue on Sunday. You'll find out why later.)**

 **SHOUTOUTS-**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Yep! Can you blame him after everything he's been through?**

 **Omarnosian10: So close and yet so far. You'll find out who is it soon.**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: ...Gonna feel touch by that. Yeah, I like that song too! Well, at least the original and a few different versions of it. Personally, I don't think the "Roar" music video was _that_ bad, unless you're talking about the clothing style. Then I can understand where you're coming from. Don't worry, there will and will always be Amourshipping for Ash! Once again, I apologize for Joltie's crazy, British humor. It wasn't my idea to put Yaoi in there! ...Have you _seen_ May pick up a mallet in the whole Advanced Generation? Thanks! Enjoy the chapter!**

 **R98: We're so close! Uh, to answer your question, Deadpool, I never watched your movie nor will I ever see your sequel. For one thing, I'm not even old enough to be allow to watch your movie! I think I rather stick with Spider-Man: Homecoming, thank you.**

 **Storygirl000: Who knows what goes on in Gary's mind...**

 **Blaze: Yeah, I think they learned their lesson. Especially Freddie.**

 **Lightwing: Well, he was bait in the last story. So something tells me this is going to go great! *Twitches***

 **Darkwing: Yeah! Who doesn't love seeing a grown-man get threatened by a ten year-old?**

 **Guest: Eh, I think his post-trauma mind made Ash not think clearly so he said some other things instead. ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Ever since meeting the teenage sleuths, Ash realizes that three of the members love to make people, other than themselves, baits. He's beginning to wonder if it's an obsession like Shaggy and Scooby's obsession with food and Fred's obsession with traps/nets. Because after noticing he's been bait for at least two times since he met them, they have a problem with putting people in trouble as he comes to realization a little too late. Thoughts of being the bait last time didn't exactly go well for him, but that was when he was alone. Now he's just glad he has Shaggy and Scooby with him as they walk towards the Music Hall, eyes glancing around every corner.

"Ya know, kid, me and Scoob thought your world would be something awesome and modern," Shaggy speaks up in hopes to end the agonizing silence between the three of them. "And, it kind of was before this whole Puppet thing came along. Now this place is like all the creepy places we've gone too."

"Reah..." Scooby nods softly, his eyes never leaving their focused assignment.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ash apologized, even though none of this was his fault. "Weird things always happen to me on a daily basis." He suddenly chuckles. "Hey, now that I think about, it's the same thing for you guys."

This makes the two chuckle as well. "Like, yep! Maybe we're cursed to be jinx wherever we go." Shaggy jokes, making the three of them laugh.

"Rad ruck wherever we ro!" Scooby adds in, sending another chorus of laughter between them.

"I-I don't think we're _that_ bad, you guys." Ash says, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "I mean, we haven't seen the Puppet Master or the hypnotized civilians yet, so I think we're-"

Their nonchalant banter suddenly died as they hear moans coming from behind, freezing them in their tracks with their bodies stiffening. The undeniable fear and irony is coursing through their veins, but they didn't dare look behind them. At least, not yet.

"L-Like, dude, _p-please_ tell me you didn't just jinxed us!" Shaggy whispers fearfully to Ash, who didn't respond. Out of all the times he had to jinx his friends...

Finally the three of them dared themselves to slowly turn around, and it was probably one of the biggest mistakes they've made in their entire lives. Waves of hypnotized civilians are surrounding them from the path they were coming from, the most horrible version of no-turning-back-now. Hesitantly, Scooby leans closer to the two humans and whispers, "He jinxed us..."

"Scooby!" The Great Dane just shrugs his shoulders. He was just being honest.

Suddenly the hypnotized civilians begin to make their way over to the three, slowly and clumsy-like, almost like the zombies that reminded two cowards of Zombie Island. And that thought made the two of them launch onto each other tightly with their teeth chattering like crazy.

"L-Like, k-kid?" Shaggy speaks up, his stutter almost making it impossible for normal people to understand. "I think now might be a good time to _start singing_!"

"G-Getting to that, Shaggy!" Ash stutters back. "B-But it's kind of hard to sing when there's like a _thousand_ people coming towards you!"

 _"JUST SING!"_

The boy flinch at the loud voices his two, grown-up friends produced at him. He personally didn't blame them, though, they tend to due crazy things when they panic. Then again, they always do crazy things in general, so why should he be so surprised anyway?

Taking a deep, Ash walks towards the large group of citizens. Shaggy and Scooby remained behind, hoping and praying that this plan goes well. The hypnotized citizens ceased their saunter in confusion. What is this boy doing? Why isn't he afraid? The Master said they should be-

 _"I'm stuck in your head_

 _I'm back from the dead_

 _Got you runnin' scared_

 _I'm fearless..."_

The hypnotized citizens falter, that voice... It sounds just as soothing as the Master's own music, but it sounds... More genuine, more pure. While the Puppet Master's music didn't have a specific emotion, this boy's voice did. The emotions actually match the lyrics to the song that he's sing. At that point, everyone of them became frozen so they can listen to this wonderful voice.

Seeing the hypnotized crowd froze and their eyes flickering between turning back to normal and remaining their dull looks, Shaggy and Scooby took slow steps forward until they were right besides Ash. However, they still didn't drop their grips around each other, just in case they might need to scream again.

 _"I'm callin' you out_

 _I'm takin' you down_

 _Don't you come around_

 _I'm fearless, I'm fearless!"_

At the end of that final note, everyone in the crowd blink and their eyes have finally return to normal. They began to murmur among themselves, asking things like, "What the heck happened?", "Where are my parents?", or "Where's my gaming console?!" All in all, though, it's better than seeing them as mindless zombies that likes to torture them with their slow walks.

A laugh of relief escapes Shaggy's throat. "Like, dude, you did it!"

"I did?" The whole time Ash had kept his eyes closed, not even daring himself to look at those empty eyes in fear of what he might recognized. However, hearing the sounds of confused mutterings and Shaggy and Scooby cheering made him open his eyes. Seeing the startled, but life-like eyes glancing around the area made all of his worries vanished instantly. A huge grin spread across his face, "Hey, I did it!"

Suddenly, Ash felt his feet lift off the ground when Shaggy picks him up by the waist and swings him around as he and Scooby do the Do-Si-Do dance. At first he was startled, but begins to laugh along with the two once he realizes this is just their own silly way of celebrating. However, the crowd before them didn't know that this was normal for them so they can only stare at the young man dancing with a strange creature with a young boy in his arms.

A soft melody promptly fills the air, making everyone froze. Shaggy and Scooby, however, were still in joyful mood and they didn't notice the familiar melody when Ash suddenly slackens in Shaggy's hold. The two stop their merry celebration as soon as the melody hit their ears. Although it didn't effect them, the other people already have their eyes becoming blank as they fall back under the control of that melody. Pretty soon, Ash's own eyes started to glaze over.

"Zoinks!" At once, Shaggy quickly put his free hand over one of the boy's ears with Scooby using his paw to cover the other ear. "Like, you gotta block it out, dude!"

"Reah!" Scooby nods, pressing his paw tightly against Ash's ears in hopes it could help block out the sound. While they have seen, first-hand, of what Ash's willpower can be like, they didn't want to take any chances of him being traumatized once again to lose his focus.

Ash's eyes remain blank for a few seconds before he closes them with a small moan and a shake of his head. "Next time... Do that faster..." He groans, his eyes opening to reveal his shiny amber orbs.

The two cowards sigh in relief as they remove their hand/paw away from the boy's head. That was too close for comfort.

 _"Oh, I'm afraid they won't be doing that again anytime soon, Baseball Head..."_ The three of them stiffen. Oh no...

The crowd of hypnotized people begin to disperse at the middle, allowing a certain animatronic to walk through them. _"They won't be doing_ anything _once I'm done with them..."_

The three whimper as they held onto each other tightly while staring at the Puppet Master in fear. They notice some changes, however; no longer did she stood rigid like a robot under control, she actually now has the posture of a normal, regal woman. Not only that, her voice sounded more human. Granted, it still has the effect of a robot that's talking, but now they can hear a more feminine side to it.

But that didn't change the fact that they're still terrified of her!

Shaggy gulps and gives a nervous smile. "A-Actually, M-Ms. R-Robot, t-there _is_ one thing that me and Scooby are going to do with Ash... WHICH IS GETTING THE HECK AWAY FROM YOU!"

The next thing the Puppet Master knew, she was staring at the dust versions of those three idiots before they disappeared. It took only a few seconds for her mind to process that they're now running as far away from her as they can. She growls before going after them, leaving her hypnotized puppets alone in the streets. If only she brought them with her...

Ash wrap his arms tightly around Scooby as the Great Dane runs through the streets with Shaggy at the speed of a cheetah. Although he didn't like this sort of predicament, he knew that Shaggy and Scooby are more faster than him and he needed to find someone way to keep up with them. Especially since he can hear the Puppet Master's horrible shrieking coming behind them.

"Like, in here!" Shaggy shouts when they finally reach the Music Hall. He and Scooby push through the doors with a force of a bull, or a Taurus in Ash's case, before they continue their cheetah speed jog. However, the Puppet Master might have beaten them in the Tackle Game as she ripped the doors off during her charge. This only makes Shaggy and Scooby scream louder and run faster, making Ash grip him tighter.

 _"Come back, Baseball Boy!"_ The Puppet Master hollers from behind them. _"I promise I won't hurt you and your weird friends... Much!"_

"Okay, there's three people I know who probably won't believe that either, and WILL YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT?!" Ash screamed.

"Like, did she just called us "weird"?" Shaggy asks Scooby, both not looking all that offended but a little confused.

It didn't take long for them to reach the theater, probably because Shaggy and Scooby are excelling the speed limit of a Flying Pokémon. The burst through the doors, their eyes meeting total darkness but they still kept moving forward. Once they have found the hiding spot they were looking for, they hid and wait with trepidation for the Puppet Master to show up.

The Puppet Master growls as she enters the theater. Apparently she's forgotten to check on this place and now the lights have automatically turned off and they look like they're not turning on anytime soon. Does she have to do _everything_ in this place? Her purple eyes suddenly flash on, a ray of purple light shining through the area like her own personal flashlight. She uses this new ability to guide her way through the dark area of the theater.

 _"Come out, come out, wherever you are!"_ She calls out, her eyes scanning across the seats in the audience as she makes her way to the stage. _"I promise, I will only hypnotize you, Baseball Head, and turn your friends into marionettes... After I throttle your throats..."_ She adds the last one in a whisper, believing that they couldn't hear her. But they did, with Ash putting both of his hands over his mouth so that he can keep his whimpering down.

The Puppet Master had made her way through the audience and is now on the stage. Her glowing eyes flash across the polish floors, searching for any sign of those three. So far, she got nothing, after glancing through the curtains and prop sets the Puppet Master was about to leave for backstage, her eyes accidentally flash to the orchestra box.

She pauses. Wait a second...

She turns her eyes back to the orchestra box, and there they are. All huddle up against each other as they try to lower their heads from view, but that was as far as they can go. "Zoinks..." Shaggy whimpers when the light nearly blinds his eyes.

The Puppet Master cackles, her no-longer-robotic voice sending shivers down their spines as she slowly makes her way over to them. Torturing them with the waiting anticipation that they're goners. The two cowards try to sandwich Ash in-between them so he didn't have to look at the Puppet Master, but the boy still had a clear view of the animatronic's clown-like smile.

They're goners...

Or so the Puppet Master thought.

"Hey, Ugly!"

The Puppet Master snaps her head up at the rafters, trying to find that other person in the shadows. Who has the _nerve_ to call her-?! Three bright lights are suddenly flash in her face, cancelling out her own little light since these were so bright. She couldn't see anything, and it started to hurt her eyes. She tries to bring her hands up to cover the light in someway, but she still couldn't see anything but white.

"Spotlight's on you, Hag!" Apparently, Serena, Pikachu, Clemont, Bonnie, and Dedenne have position themselves on the rafters where they were waiting for their cue for the three to lead the Puppet Master onto the stage so they can shine the stage-lights at her to blind her. A certain someone thought it might be okay to turn her lights on at full blast. A couple of guesses to know who that is.

The clown-like animatronic growls, she recognizes those voices. The two spoiled brats! If they're here, then that means the one wearing the glasses isn't far behind. She begins to back up, trying to get away from the light, but the kids lead the light so that it follows her to wherever she moves. Oh, once she gets her robotic arms on them, she's gonna-!

She fails to notice that she passed by a certain Blonde who is hiding behind the curtains, waiting for the perfect moment.

"Not yet, not yet..." He tells the person on the walkie-talkie. When he sees the Puppet Master's skirt over the red-X that's placed, he moves his arm like a signal. "Now!"

The next thing the Puppet Master knew, the floor underneath her disappeared. She gasps as gravity took a hold of her, sending her down a seemly endless abyss. Using her sharp fingers, the Puppet Master try to keep a grip on the edge. But the polish floors became too slippery, even for her fingers, and fell down the abyss with a horrible shriek.

"Got her!" Velma shouts as she and Daphne reveal themselves from their hiding spot in the box seats, each holding push buttons in their hands. Hearing that the coast is clear, everyone came out of their spots; Shaggy and Scooby help Ash up from the orchestra box, Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont have move away from the stage-lights with bright smiles on their faces when they see the trapdoor of where the Puppet Master was standing is open. Taku moves out from the curtains on the other side with a smile on his face when he hears the shouts and cursing coming from the trapdoor, along with the sounds of metal clashing against each other.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Serena calls down to the raven-haired boy after seeing he has his head in a hand.

"Yeah!" He replies. "Brain's slightly goopy from the music, but I'll be fine!"

Hearing that, almost everyone currently present in the room, minus Ash, turn to glare at the three members of Mystery Inc. Daphne put her hands up in a surrender position. "Hey, the plan worked, didn't it?" She asks as she presses the button in her hand.

Sounds of gears running and the Puppet Master's grumbling becoming louder are being produced from the trapdoor. Then a large, metal cage came rising out of the abyss, the Puppet Master trapped inside it. Her mood completely sour as her sharp hands are around the bars, but she couldn't budge them no matter what. Curse you, metal!

Suddenly the doors that lead to the theater are burst open, startling them all. "What in the world is going on, here?!" Officer Jenny demands as she and two of her cadets march down the audience aisle. "Me and my men came to the Music Hall and manage to find _all_ the criminals in one spot!" She then notices a familiar trio. "You! Oh, you're going to be washing the bathrooms once I get your butts back in-!"

"Officer Jenny, wait!" Ash calls, he and his friends, who somehow got down from the rafters quickly, running in front of the three, frightened teenagers and spread their arms out in a protective stance. "It wasn't their fault!"

"Yeah, they were being hypnotized!" Bonnie adds in.

"Hypnotized?" Officer Jenny tilted her head in confusion. "B-But, how is that-?"

"We can explain that, Officer," Freddie says, stepping around the children and moving over to the cage. "But, first, let's find out who's behind all of this!"

The Puppet Master reels back when Freddie's hand goes through the bars to reach for the button that would deactivate her faceplates. No, no! She won't let them win! She's the one that's suppose too-! Her thoughts turn blank when Clemont somehow snuck-up on her and press the button. The faceplates sprung open with a loud snap, revealing the face of...

"Amanda Miller?!" Everyone cries out in shock once they see the familiar, yet ruined, brown-hair that's no longer in a pony-tail and the tired green eyes glaring at them. Dang it!

"Amanda?" Taku asked softly, completely horrified that someone he knew so well has turn their back on him once again.

"Now it all makes sense," Velma realizes, missing the horrified look on Taku's face. "There's only one person who knows their way around the Music Hall is the Host of the Creative Arts Festival. Being the host, Amanda would be given access to all areas so she can look them over, or use them to her advantage. Which is how she knew where to find us in the sewers."

"She must have heard about the legend of how the Puppet Master was made and the creator going crazy, so she decided to use the Puppet Master as her disguise so everyone would believe that the creator is still haunting the animatronic." Daphne continues.

"It _was_ pretty convincing," Freddie admitted, before turning back to the exhausted philanthropist with a smirk. "Before we realized that the creator didn't exactly had a money obsession when she was alive..."

"That was a pretty dead giveaway." Bonnie adds with a laugh, Dedenne laughing along.

Velma then walks right in front of the immobilized Amanda. "What I am curious to know about is why you're so obsessed with money. Aren't you suppose to be a philanthropist?"

"You think I don't know that?!" The so-called-philanthropist snaps, her voice now all husky and exhausted. "It's not easy being a philanthropist, alright?! When I finally earned enough, I was going to use it all for me. But _no_ , my mom thought it would be a good idea to spend it all on some "good-ol-chairty work"! By the time she stopped messing with my business, I barely had enough to sustain myself!"

"So you devised this whole scheme just so you can earn the money you lost, possibly making more." Velma summarizes. "You decided to hypnotize many people to take the blame so no one can suspect it was you, thus giving you the chance to continue your work."

"Not to mention trying to con Ash's Uncle to give you all of his money just for his nephew's sake!" Serena shouts , waving a fist at the brunette. A part of her deeply wishes to pound this woman to oblivion, but she can't exactly do that with everyone currently present in the room, especially Ash.

Shaggy then asks a question that's been implanted in his brain for a while. "But, like, wait, wasn't Amanda also hypnotized? She was with us when everyone got hypnotized at the show."

"Did you guys _actually_ see her with everyone else?" Daphne asks with a raise-eyebrow.

This makes the hippie shuffle his feet uncomfortably. "Uh, no. Not exactly. But, like, her voice sounded all dopey when she was announcing everyone had to leave."

"She probably was acting that part out, once again trying to drive suspicion off herself." Velma explains.

The next question came from one of the cadets. "Um, how _did_ she hypnotized everyone, by the way?"

"I can explain, officer." Taku says, shaking out of his horrified taking the music box out of the Puppet Master's sharp hands. "With this music box. If I remember correctly, Amanda has a Master Degree in audio tones, not to mention she has both a Drowzze and Hypno for her team. I'll bet she used her Pokémon's hypnotic sounds and amplified them to make it sound like it's actual music, while giving her the ability to hypnotize anyone who hears it."

"Too bad she didn't realize that her Music Box doesn't work on people who are tone-deaf, like my big brother." Clemont looks down to glare at his little sister, once again for criticizing his singing abilities. Ash, Pikachu, and Serena had to cover their mouths to stiffen their giggles.

"Uh, one more question." Shaggy speaks up, eyeing the disconnected animatronic with weary eyes. "L-Like, how did Amanda get that thing to change from a creepy animatronic, to a more terrifying and twisted version of _Five Night's At Freddy's_ Puppet?!"

Not understanding what he meant by that last part, Freddy figures out what the hippie is trying to say and grabs Amanda by the arm and helps her out of the animatronic. "You might want to get out of that thing, for a bit." When the officers manage to detained the former philanthropist, Freddy walks back to the Puppet Master and presses a button on her top lip. In an instant, the Puppet Master change into her horrifying form with sounds of locks snapping. Seeing it so suddenly, Shaggy and Scooby made a swan-dive behind the kids.

"It's the springlocks," Velma begins. "Apparently, the Puppet Master, or Marion Etta, was originally used for a Horror Attraction by the Fazbear Company, but Henery Fazbear thought she was too scary and changed up her appearance. The springlocks inside her not only allows the person to wear her, but keep her true form hidden by everyone else. Once the springlocks are release, there's no point in hiding anymore."

"M-Man, t-that's just like S-Springtrap and the P-Purple Guy!" Shaggy whimpers from his place behind Ash and Serena.

"...Still don't know what that means..." Bonnie sighs.

Officer Jenny takes one last study of the deformed animatronic before turning her steely glare at Amanda, who is trembling slightly at the sight of the policewoman. "Oh, you're going to be in jail for a _long_ time, Millers." The cadets then begin to drag the philanthropist away, Jenny following behind them. "Some of my best-men were a part of your hypnotic crazed!"

Amanda growls while on the inside she's completely terrified. She can't go to jail! She won't last one minute in their poor conditions! Noticing a familiar raven-haired boy at the corner of her eyes, Amanda instantly remembers how Taku said the boy is kind to all and won't hesitate to feel sympathy to them. While, she admits, that they got off into a bad start, she's still gonna try.

"Wait, wait, wait! Ash!" Ash jumps in surprise when Amanda somehow got her arm free and is now gripping his hand tightly, the cadets trying to pull her off him but she still kept a firm grip. "Look Ash, I know the two of us don't exactly know each other very well, and we got off to a _horrible_ start! B-But, I know your family very well! You're not gonna let them lock me away, right? You're too nice for that!"

For a moment, it looked like Ash was actually considering letting Amanda Millers go, even after all she's done to him. He looks to his three friends for help, but all they gave him were wide expressions. They actually couldn't believe that Ash is even considering it! When they finally gave their responses, they just shook their head ferociously, mouthing the word "No" with great emphasis.

He then looks at Pikachu, who was staring at him wide eyes before shaking his head just as ferociously. No way on Earth is he going to let his Pika-Pi anywhere near that lady ever again!

Finally coming to a conclusion, Ash gave Amanda a gentle smile and tenderly holds her hand in both of his hands. "Amanda..."

The former philanthropist could feel jumping-jacks going on in her stomach. It worked! It actually-!

"...have you ever consider how you'd fair in captivity?"

What?

"W-What?" Amanda stutters, Ash's gentle face now turning into a devious smirk. Seeing what he's actually doing, his friends could feel their chuckles almost escaping. Shaggy and Scooby didn't even bother hiding their chuckles, while the rest are smiling with a hint of amusement.

"Ya know, captivity." Ash shrugs his shoulders like they're talking about something simple like the weather. "The word that means, I don't know, you get detain. The kind where you're locked away from everyone else, you get the fear of never seeing the sun again, not being able to see your family or friends again. The kind where you get gagged!" At that last part, Ash dropped his friendly act and glares at the former philanthropist.

Amanda's jaw drops while the children could hardly contain their chuckles anymore. Ash then went back to his friendly exterior, giving her a smile that almost made her shiver. "You wanna what I think? I don't think you could last one minute in captivity. I hope you prove me wrong. But..." He gets his hand out of her grip and leans in closer to give her a smirk. "I doubt you will."

Finally, the children couldn't hold it any longer and burst into a fit of laughter. "H-HE SASSED YOU!" Bonnie gasps out, falling to the ground and kicking her little feet up in the air. Clemont had to lift up his glasses to whip his tears while Serena had to grab Ash's arm for support.

Amanda could only gap when she realized her own words were thrown right back at her, by a ten year-old, no less! She starts to throw a fit when the cadets resume their hold on her and begin to drag her off the stage.

Shaking off her laughter, Serena walks up to Ash until she was side-by-side with him. Noticing the emotionless expression on his face, she asks, "You okay, Ash?"

He knew what Serena was asking. How is he going to cope with another person betraying his family's trust? To be fair, Peggy's betrayal affected him greatly and clouded his mind when he thought Stan did the exact same thing. However, seeing his uncle's former business partner being dragged away, he realized he didn't feel anything at all.

"I think so, Serena," Ash answered, giving the honey-blonde girl the grin that she adores. "Beside, Amanda's right, I hardly knew her like I did with Peggy. So there's really nothing for me to feel about her."

Serena could feel herself smiling. The old, cheerful Ash is coming back!

Unfortunately, a certain culprit decided to ruin the moment with her shrill shriek. "AND I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT TOO, IF IT WEREN'T FOR MEDDLING KIDS AND THAT OLD BILLIONAIRE!"

"HE'S A MILLIONAIRE!" A chorus of shouts came from the stage, and that was the last thing Amanda heard before she was carted off.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: We've been waiting for it... All you fans out there have been dreading this day the very _moment_ I posted this story. That's right, this is the end...**

 ***Tries to hold back tears and ignores the deep and crushing pit forming inside the stomach***

 **What's worst about this story coming into the end, it's only right after the ending of the _XY_ and _XY &Z_ series. Which means, goodbye XY Gang! They are my favorite traveling companions ever! Not only were they all the same age (well, Bonnie's a sort-of exception), they all acted like they're weird. Which is what I love! They're not afraid to be weird since that's whole they are, and they're willing to do _anything_ for each other! Out of all the traveling companions I've seen, never have I seen Ash so close to the XY Gang! They are the best, and I don't care what anyone else says otherwise.**

 **Ahem, sorry. I was suppose to save my big speech at the end of this chapter. Trust me guys, this only gets even more emotional.**

 **Before I do the shotouts, I just want to make my own shotout to Joltie! Joltie, I can't thank you enough for helping me with this story! Who would have thought the two of us, both crazy and eccentric fans and we brought of our two favorite fandoms together to life. Because you and everyone's support, my simple idea became something much more. Thank you, for being my co-partner and one of my best online friends. :)**

 **Also, this chapter if for Steel Heart Alchemist, whose birthday is today! Happy Birthday!**

 **SHOTOUTS-!**

 **Joshua Ketchum: Yep! Although, I think there are some parts that Shaggy didn't want to know about.**

 **Guest: Yeah, Ash is recovering. That's the point, me and Joltie wanted to make this difficult for you guys. ;)**

 **Satoshi-Greninja: Thank you. I really do love that song and I think it kind of fits Ash.**

 **Matt: Well, I mostly based off from what I know about those three. In the logical form, who would risk someone's life by going to find a monster that can do worst? Hmm, nah, his obsession with nets are still the same. You can say Ash taught him a little lesson about nets.**

 **Blaze: Yep! Not to mention Ash got his own revenge. ;)**

 **Lightwing: Oh, they'll celebrate it alright.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

It was all over, the culprit had been arrested and everything was slowly returning back to normal. All of the stolen money had been found around the city, those that Amanda hadn't been found with when the police came to arrest her. Of course, everyone who was hypnotised and arrested concerning the robberies were set free as they were being controlled by a force beyond their own comprehension at the time. The awards ceremony, albeit being held back behind schedule for some time, was planned to continue a week afterwards, to get every act ready for the rescheduling and to perfect their performances and, for one group, it was a chance to make an act from scratch after learning they were going to perform a few days after Amanda's arrest.

"Why do we have to do this?" Clemont asked the Great Dane next to him, adjusting his black tie, the shirt's white collar covered a part of the fabric perfectly so only the knot and the normally seen part could be seen. The top was tucked into his smart black trousers. The only difference in Scooby was the dark orange jacket he was wearing.

"I dunno." Scooby responded with a shrug, not really helping at all. At that moment, the other Mystery Inc. members, minus Shaggy, walked towards him, each looking different than normal. Daphne's hair was pinned up into a bun with a pearl studded headband holding back loose strands of hair. Her purple dress was straight and long, a slit up the side ended at the knees, allowing more freedom to move, her high heeled shoes matched everything, visible only when she stood in certain positions. Fred was wearing a ripped, sleeveless denim jacket with his van printed on the back over a white t-shirt, his ascot still in its normal place. His jeans wear also ripped but had studs on the lining of the pockets. Velma looked the most normal than the others. Her orange jumper was thinner and V-necked, showing a red dress underneath which had a pleated skirt, kind of like her own one. She still wore her knee lengthen socks but her shoes now looked like the ruby slippers that Dorothy wore in the Wizard of OZ.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine when you get on stage." Daphne tried to reassure him, but it wasn't working all that well.

"Big brother has all kinds of performance shyness. Camera shy… stage fright… that isn't gonna work." The group turned to see Serena and Bonnie ready, both of them standing proudly in their new outfits. Bonnie was wearing a green dress, the skirt of it a paler colour than everything else with lines that made it look like a upside down bulb. The dark patches on the body of the dress looked like the ones found on a Bulbasaur. She wore a cute green version of her normal shoes. Serena had a fifties-inspired dress, white in colour, with flame sequin patterns running up the sides. Her short hair was styled into a tiny ponytail with a bright red band and red ballet pumps.

"Ta da! What do you think?" Serena asked, with the reactions being varied throughout. Daphne clapped her hands together with glee whilst the others just simply smiled.

"Great Serena, you two look great." Fred said with a grin. Shaggy jumped out of nowhere, tie dye shirt, headband, baggy trousers, sandals and all.

"Like, who's ready to rock?!" He noticed all of the bewildered/unamused looks he was getting and let out a cough. "Hey, where's Ash?"

"Here." Everyone turned as the two Ketchums walked towards them, Taku in a black tuxedo with a white shirt and red tie whilst his nephew has, for the first time in forever, hat less, wearing a short sleeved denim jacket over a dark grey t-shirt with his normal trousers and shoes however his fingerless gloves had a blue band around them instead of a red one. "Just had a bit of the nerves. I'm sure you'll all do fine, now if you'll excuse me." The millionaire left, as he was the announcer for their group which had been named "Mysteries of Kalos", guess whose inventive idea that was. Hint, their name is Fred.

"You okay?" Serena asked her crush who nodded, Pikachu rubbing into his cheek from his shoulder.

"Yeah, I've just never performed in front of such a huge crowd before." Ash admitted, looking at the ground nervously. "I'm scared, okay?"

"It'll be fine. Trust me; I've had to do what you've done." Velma said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Once you get lost into the music, everything else fades away." Before anyone could say anything, the last award winner walked past them, with the backstage crew asking them to take their places. Oh well, it was time.

* * *

Taku walked on stage towards the microphone that he knew his nephew would be standing at in a few moments time, which filled him with pride. He cleared his throat and leaned into the mic.

"Hello everyone, I am extremely happy to introduce the next act onto the stage as they hold a space in my heart. They are the reason this event is still continuing, please welcome onto the stage, Mysteries of Kalos!" He walked off, hearing the cheering ringing in his ears knowing that this was going to be good.

The lights came on to the stage, revealing everyone in their places. Scooby and Clemont were manning the two drum kits with Fred, Velma, Shaggy and Bonnie taking on the electric guitars. Serena was standing behind a normal keyboard whilst Daphne had an electronic one hanging in front of her with a strap. With a deep sigh, Ash leaned closer towards the microphone in the stand, right hand clutching the top as nerves ran through him. The first few chords started on the guitars and immediately, the song was in full swing.

 _"What's new Scooby Doo?_  
 _We're coming after you,_  
 _You're gonna solve that mystery._  
 _I see you Scooby Doo,_  
 _The trail leads back to you._  
 _What's new Scooby Doo?"_

As soon as the first few bars were over, everyone began melting into the song, the nerves vanishing immediately as the audience faded away. Everything was played or sung with more passion, more confidence and more enjoyment with what was happening.

 _"What's new Scooby Doo?_  
 _We're coming after you,_  
 _You're gonna solve that mystery._  
 _I see you Scooby Doo,_  
 _The trail leads back to you._  
 _What's new Scooby Doo?"_

It didn't take a moment to realise that everyone was acting professionally, for their first ever performance. Well, in the children's case that was, the others had performed before as a part of a band. Their bodies were moving to the music, not because they were forcing their bodies to move. The audience were getting extremely involved, the catchy tune and repetitive lyrics with a sweet, soothing voice made ear candy for them to listen too.

 _"Don't look back, you may find another clue._  
 _The Scooby snacks will be waiting here for you."_

An instrumental break was added, the guitar solos starting first causing Fred to release his inner rock god, which was hilarious to watch but not so hilarious to be standing right next to as his yelling could easily burst the eardrums. That solo made way for the two keyboard playing girls with the normal beat having been toned down to hear them, finishing off with an all-out coolness battle on the drums, which surprisingly the gang would have said Clemont might have just won with a slight victory over Scooby.

 _"What's new Scooby Doo?_  
 _We're coming after you,_  
 _You're gonna solve that mystery._  
 _I see you Scooby Doo_  
 _The trail leads back to you_  
 _What's new Scooby Doo?"_

Shaggy, for some reason, suddenly dropped his guitar and ran to the edge of the stage, flinging himself off hoping that the standing audience would catch him and send him in a wave over their heads. Maybe it was the hippy clothing or his desperateness for the action but no one went to catch him, causing Shaggy to land on the ground painfully. The Mystery Inc. members winced in pain whilst the children and their Pokémon made concerned yet sympathetic faces as they continued with the performance.

 _"What's new Scooby Doo?_  
 _We're coming after you,_  
 _You're gonna solve that mystery._  
 _I see you Scooby Doo_  
 _The trail leads back to you_  
 _What's new Scooby Doo?"_

At the front of the stage, Pikachu and Dedenne were miming rocking out along with the music, both of them air guitaring cutely which must have been a good idea as the audience was loving it, some of the people cooing at the Pokémon whilst others called out to the Pokémon, asking to hire them for performances, which those who weren't focused on moving their mouth singing, aww-ed at.

 _"Don't look back, you may find another clue._  
 _The Scooby snacks will be waiting here for you."_

Some of the more mobile instrument players, excluding Shaggy who had painfully made his way back up on stage and returned to his guitar playing duties, had begun dancing. Serena would incorporate a twirl into her short break whilst Bonnie would jump up and down, even jumping backwards with an extended leg like a true rocker. Daphne would spin around the stage before back to back rocking out with Fred. Velma remained static, just because she'd become to embarrassed if she tried to dance with her guitar.

 _"What's new Scooby Doo?_  
 _We're coming after you,_  
 _You're gonna solve that mystery._  
 _I see you Scooby Doo_  
 _The trail leads back to you,_  
 _What's new Scooby Doo?"_

The end was painfully near and no one wanted it to stop. For people who were completely scared about this only a few minutes ago, they had taken to the stage really well, especially Clemont who was head banging in time to the beat. And, as the group continued to perform, they felt a sense of relief that it hadn't been a total failure.

 _"Na, na, na, na, na_  
 _Na, na, na, na, na_  
 _Na, na, na, na, na, na, na_  
 _Na, na, na, na, na_  
 _Na, na, na, na, na_  
 _What's new Scooby Doo?!"_

Scooby decided to end with a little drum solo of his own as the audience began clapping loudly, some even yelling and applauding more than any of the other acts. And as everyone stood in shock to their response from those in the seats, one of them was grinning like mad. He pulled all of the others into a hug before they lined up professionally to either bow or curtsey, whichever they wished. As Scooby returned to normal, he grinned and yelled out…

"Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Do you guys ever get the feeling that you want to cry, but you can't? That's me! GOD DANGIT EYES! CRY FOR PETE'S SAKE!**

 **Ahem, no one saw anything.**

 **So, this is the end. I just want to say, thank you everyone for supporting me with this. Before I started all of this, I was just a simple girl trying to make it through life and wanted to bring her imagination to life. I would have never imagine this series getting this far without all of you support. What was just an idea became something real, the relationship between Shaggy, Scooby, and the kids became real. And I can't thank you all enough.**

 **And Steel, I just want to say this is not only my birthday gift to you, but my appreciation for everything you've done yo me. It's because of your love for this crossover and using that love to make your own story. If it weren't for you, I would have never gotten the inspiration to continue this series, get the chance to know Joltie, who has become one of my best online friends, and be able to bring smiles to people like you. For that, I can't thank you enough, but I just wanna let you know that you're one of my best online friends, and that is something that means a lot to me. :)**

 **Wow, I _really_ wish I can cry right now. I'm even listening to Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment's song _Wherever I Go_. If you guys wanna get more emotional, listen to that song. It fits the mood to this story and the ending of the XY Series so well.**

 **Now, this is goodbye. I hope you all enjoyed this, and maybe I will see again in another story.**

 **Bye guys.**


End file.
